diff --git "a/wikipedia_12.txt" "b/wikipedia_12.txt" new file mode 100644--- /dev/null +++ "b/wikipedia_12.txt" @@ -0,0 +1,10000 @@ +External links + +Andronikos 01 +Byzantine people of the Crusades +12th-century Byzantine emperors +Andronikos Komnenos +Andronikos Komnenos +Eastern Orthodox monarchs +Executed Byzantine people +Executed monarchs +Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Seljuk wars +People executed by dismemberment +Lynching deaths +12th-century executions by the Byzantine Empire +Andronicus of Cyrrhus or Andronicus Cyrrhestes (Latin; , Andrónikos Kyrrhēstēs; ) was a Hellenized Macedonian astronomer best known for designing the Tower of the Winds in Roman Athens. + +Life +Little is known about the life of Andronicus, although his father is recorded as Hermias. It is usually assumed that he came from the Cyrrhus in Macedonia rather than the one in Syria. + +Work +Andronicus is usually credited with the construction of the Tower of the Winds in the Roman forum at Athens around a considerable portion of which still exists. It is octagonal, with figures of the eight principal winds (Anemoi) carved on the appropriate side. Originally, a bronze figure of Triton was placed on the summit that was turned round by the wind so that the rod in his hand pointed to the correct wind direction, an idea replicated with subsequent wind vanes. The interior housed a large clepsydra and the exterior housed multiple sundials so that it functioned as a kind of early clocktower. + +He also built a multifaced sundial for the Temple of Poseidon on the island of Tinos. + +References + +Citations + +Bibliography + + . + +External links +Tenos island - Epigraphical Database - IG XII,5 891 + +Ancient Greek astronomers +Ancient Macedonian scientists +Ancient Macedonians in Athens +Roman-era Macedonians +2nd-century BC births +1st-century BC deaths +Year of birth unknown +Year of death unknown +2nd-century BC astronomers +Andronicoos of Rhodes (; ; ) was a Greek philosopher from Rhodes who was also the scholarch (head) of the Peripatetic school. He is most famous for publishing a new edition of the works of Aristotle that forms the basis of the texts that survive today. + +Life +Little is known about Andronicus' life. He is reported to have been the eleventh scholarch of the Peripatetic school. He taught in Rome, about 58 BC, and was the teacher of Boethus of Sidon, with whom Strabo studied. + +Works of Aristotle +Andronicus is of special interest in the history of philosophy, from the statement of Plutarch, that he published a new edition of the works of Aristotle and Theophrastus, which formerly belonged to the library of Apellicon, and were brought to Rome by Sulla with the rest of Apellicon's library in 84. Tyrannion commenced this task, but apparently did not do much towards it. The arrangement which Andronicus made of Aristotle's writings seems to be the one which forms the basis of our present editions and we are probably indebted to him for the preservation of a large number of Aristotle's works. + +Writings +Andronicus wrote a work upon Aristotle, the fifth book of which contained a complete list of the philosopher's writings, and he also wrote commentaries upon the Physics, Ethics, and Categories. None of these works is extant. Two treatises are sometimes erroneously attributed to him, one On Emotions, the other a commentary on Aristotle's Ethics (really by Constantine Paleocappa in the 16th century, or by John Callistus of Thessalonica). + +Notes + +References + +Further reading + +External links + The Rediscovery of the Corpus Aristotelicum with an annotated bibliography + +Attribution + +1st-century BC Greek philosophers +Commentators on Aristotle +Roman-era Peripatetic philosophers +Roman-era philosophers in Rome +Philosophers in ancient Rhodes +Roman-era Rhodians +Ancient Greek ethicists +Andronicus or Andronikos () is a classical Greek name. The name has the sense of "male victor, warrior". Its female counterpart is Andronikè (Ἀνδρονίκη). Notable bearers of the name include: + +People +Andronicus of Olynthus, Greek general under Demetrius in the 4th century BC +Livius Andronicus (), Greco-Roman dramatist and epic poet who introduced drama to the Romans and produced the first formal play in Latin +Andronicus ben Meshullam, Jewish scholar of the 2nd century BC +Andronicus of Pergamum, 2nd-century BC diplomat +Andronicus of Macedonia, Macedonian governor of Ephesus in 2nd century BC +Andronicus of Cyrrhus (fl. ), Greek astronomer +Andronicus of Rhodes (fl. ), Greek philosopher +Andronicus of Pannonia (Saint Andronicus), Christian apostle of the seventy mentioned in Romans 16:7 +Andronicus (physician), Greek physician of the 2nd century +Andronicus (poet), Greek writer of the 4th century +Saint Andronicus, 4th-century Christian martyr +Andronicus of Alexandria, soldier, martyr, saint and companion of Faustus, Abibus and Dionysius of Alexandria +Coptic Pope Andronicus of Alexandria (reigned 616–622) +Andronikos I Komnenos (–1185), Byzantine emperor +Andronikos II Palaiologos (1258–1332) +Andronikos III Palaiologos (1297–1341) +Andronikos IV Palaiologos (1348–1385) +Andronikos V Palaiologos (), co-emperor with his father, John VII Palaiologos +Andronikos Palaiologos (son of Manuel II) (1403–1429), Byzantine prince and governor +Andronikos I of Trebizond (), emperor of Trebizond +Andronikos II of Trebizond () +Andronikos III of Trebizond () + Andronicus of Veszprém, 13th-century Hungarian cleric + Andronikos Euphorbenos (), Byzantine aristocrat and military commander + Andronikos Kakoullis (born 2001), Cypriot footballer + +Fictional characters +Titus Andronicus, a play by William Shakespeare, possibly inspired by one of the above-listed emperors +Andronicus, or the Unfortunate Politician, a 1646 satire by Thomas Fuller + +See also +Andronikos Komnenos (disambiguation) +Andronikos Palaiologos (disambiguation) +Ammianus Marcellinus, occasionally anglicised as Ammian (Greek: Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος; born , died 400), was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the Res gestae, chronicled in Latin the history of Rome from the accession of the Emperor Nerva in 96 to the death of Valens at the Battle of Adrianople in 378, although only the sections covering the period 353 to 378 survive. + +Biography + +Ammianus was born in the East Mediterranean, possibly in Syria or Phoenicia, around 330. His native language is unknown but he likely knew Greek as well as Latin. The surviving books of his history cover the years 353 to 378. + +Ammianus served as an officer in the army of the emperors Constantius II and Julian. He served in Gaul (Julian) and in the east (twice for Constantius, once under Julian). He professes to have been "a former soldier and a Greek" (miles quondam et graecus), and his enrollment among the elite protectores domestici (household guards) shows that he was of middle class or higher birth. Consensus is that Ammianus probably came from a curial family, but it is also possible that he was the son of a comes Orientis of the same family name. He entered the army at an early age, when Constantius II was emperor of the East, and was sent to serve under Ursicinus, governor of Nisibis in Mesopotamia, and magister militum. Ammianus campaigned in the East twice under Ursicinus. + +He travelled with Ursicinus to Italy when Ursicinus was called on by Constantius to begin an expedition against Silvanus. Silvanus had been forced by the allegedly false accusations of his enemies into proclaiming himself emperor in Gaul. Ursicinus had one of his men assassinate Silvanus, restoring Gaul to Constantius. He then stayed in Gaul to help install Julian as Caesar of Gaul, Spain and Britain. Ammianus probably met Julian for the first time while serving on Ursicinus' staff in Gaul. + +In 359 Constantius sent Ursicinus back to the east to help in the defence against a Persian invasion led by king Shapur II himself. Ammianus returned with his commander to the East and again served Ursicinus as a staff officer. Ursicinus, although he was the more experienced commander, was placed under the command of Sabinianus, the Magister Peditum of the east. The two did not get along, resulting in a lack of cooperation between the Limitanei (border regiments) of Mesopotamia and Osrhoene under Ursicinus' command and the comitatus (field army) of Sabinianus. While on a mission near Nisibis, Ammianus spotted a Persian patrol which was about to try and capture Ursicinus, he was able to warn his commander in time. In an attempt to locate the Persian Royal Army Ursicinus sent Ammianus to Jovinianus, the semi-independent governor of Corduene, and a friend of Ursicinus. Ammianus successfully located the Persian main body and reported his findings to Ursicinus. + +After his mission in Corduene, Ammianus accompanied his commander when the latter rode out from his headquarters at Amida on a mission to make sure the bridges across the Euphrates were demolished. They were attacked by the Persian vanguard who had made a night march in an attempt to catch the Romans at Amida off guard. After a protracted cavalry battle the Romans were scattered, Ursicinus evaded capture and fled to Melitene while Ammianus barely made it back to Amida with a wounded comrade. The Persians started to besiege the city. When it fell Ammianus barely escaped with his life. + +When Ursicinus was dismissed from his military post by Constantius, Ammianus too seems to have retired from the military; however, reevaluation of his participation in Julian's Persian campaign has led modern scholarship to suggest that he continued his service but did not for some reason include the period in his history. +He accompanied Julian, for whom he expresses enthusiastic admiration, in his campaigns against the Alamanni and the Sassanids. +After Julian's death, Ammianus accompanied the retreat of the new emperor, Jovian, as far as Antioch. +He was residing in Antioch in 372 when a certain Theodorus was thought to have been identified the successor to the emperor Valens by divination. +Speaking as an alleged eyewitness, Marcellinus recounts how Theodorus and several others were made to confess their deceit through the use of torture, and cruelly punished. + +He eventually settled in Rome and began the Res gestae. The precise year of his death is unknown, but scholarly consensus places it somewhere between 392 and 400 at the latest. + +Modern scholarship generally describes Ammianus as a pagan who was tolerant of Christianity. Marcellinus writes of Christianity as being a "plain and simple" religion that demands only what is just and mild, and when he condemns the actions of Christians, he does not do so on the basis of their Christianity as such. His lifetime was marked by lengthy outbreaks of sectarian and dogmatic strife within the new state-backed faith, often with violent consequences (especially the Arian controversy) and these conflicts sometimes appeared unworthy to him, though it was territory where he could not risk going very far in criticism, due to the growing and volatile political connections between the church and imperial power. + +Ammianus was not blind to the faults of Christians or of pagans and was especially critical of them; he commented that "no wild beasts are so hostile to men as Christian sects in general are to one another" and he condemns the emperor Julian for excessive attachment to (pagan) sacrifice, and for his edict effectively barring Christians from teaching posts. + +Work + +While living in Rome in the 380s, Ammianus wrote a Latin history of the Roman empire from the accession of Nerva (96) to the death of Valens at the Battle of Adrianople (378), in effect writing a continuation of the history of Tacitus. He presumably completed the work before 391, as at 22.16.12 he praises the Serapeum of Alexandria in Egypt as the glory of the empire; it was in that same year the Emperor granted the temple grounds to a Christian bishop, provoking pagans into barricading themselves in the temple, plundering its contents, and torturing Christians, ultimately destroying the temple. + +The Res gestae (Rerum gestarum libri XXXI) was originally composed of thirty-one books, but the first thirteen have been lost. The surviving eighteen books cover the period from 353 to 378. It constitutes the foundation of modern understanding of the history of the fourth century Roman Empire. It is lauded as a clear, comprehensive, and generally impartial account of events by a contemporary; like many ancient historians, however, Ammianus was in fact not impartial, although he expresses an intention to be so, and had strong moral and religious prejudices. Although criticised as lacking literary merit by his early biographers, he was in fact quite skilled in rhetoric, which significantly has brought the veracity of some of the Res gestae into question. + +His work has suffered substantially from manuscript transmission. Aside from the loss of the first thirteen books, the remaining eighteen are in many places corrupt and lacunose. The sole surviving manuscript from which almost every other is derived is a ninth-century Carolingian text, Vatican lat. 1873 (V), produced in Fulda from an insular exemplar. The only independent textual source for Ammianus lies in Fragmenta Marbugensia (M), another ninth-century Frankish codex which was taken apart to provide covers for account-books during the fifteenth century. Only six leaves of M survive; however, before this manuscript was dismantled the Abbot of Hersfeld lent the manuscript to Sigismund Gelenius, who used it in preparing the text of the second Froben edition (G). The dates and relationship of V and M were long disputed until 1936 when R. P. Robinson demonstrated persuasively that V was copied from M. As L. D. Reynolds summarizes, "M is thus a fragment of the archetype; symptoms of an insular pre-archetype are evident." + +His handling from his earliest printers was little better. The editio princeps was printed in 1474 in Rome by Georg Sachsel and Bartholomaeus Golsch, which broke off at the end of Book 26. The next edition (Bologna, 1517) suffered from its editor's conjectures upon the poor text of the 1474 edition; the 1474 edition was pirated for the first Froben edition (Basle, 1518). It was not until 1533 that the last five books of Ammianus' history were put into print by Silvanus Otmar and edited by Mariangelus Accursius. The first modern edition was produced by C.U. Clark (Berlin, 1910–1913). The first English translations were by Philemon Holland in 1609, and later by C.D. Yonge in 1862. + +Reception +Edward Gibbon judged Ammianus "an accurate and faithful guide, who composed the history of his own times without indulging the prejudices and passions which usually affect the mind of a contemporary." But he also condemned Ammianus for lack of literary flair: "The coarse and undistinguishing pencil of Ammianus has delineated his bloody figures with tedious and disgusting accuracy." Austrian historian Ernst Stein praised Ammianus as "the greatest literary genius that the world produced between Tacitus and Dante". + +According to Kimberly Kagan, his accounts of battles emphasize the experience of the soldiers but at the cost of ignoring the bigger picture. As a result, it is difficult for the reader to understand why the battles he describes had the outcome they did. + +Ammianus' work contains a detailed description of the earthquake and tsunami of 365 in Alexandria, which devastated the metropolis and the shores of the eastern Mediterranean on 21 July 365. His report describes accurately the characteristic sequence of earthquake, retreat of the sea, and sudden incoming giant wave. + +Notes + +Citations + +Sources + Editions and translations + + +Studies + +Further reading + +External links + + + + Works by Ammianus Marcellinus at Perseus Digital Library + Ammianus Marcellinus on-line project + Ammianus Marcellinus' works in Latin at the Latin Library + Ammianus Marcellinus' works in English at the Tertullian Project with introduction on the manuscripts + Bibliography for Ammianus Marcellinus at Bibliographia Latina Selecta compiled by M.G.M. van der Poel + +330 births +390s deaths +4th-century births +4th-century Greek people +4th-century historians +4th-century writers in Latin +4th-century Romans +Ancient Greeks in Rome +Ancient Roman equites +Ancient Roman soldiers +Late-Roman-era pagans +Latin historians +People of Roman Syria +People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars +Roman-era Greeks + +Year of birth uncertain +Year of death unknown +Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank in the service module (SM) failed two days into the mission. The crew instead looped around the Moon in a circumlunar trajectory and returned safely to Earth on April 17. The mission was commanded by Jim Lovell, with Jack Swigert as command module (CM) pilot and Fred Haise as Lunar Module (LM) pilot. Swigert was a late replacement for Ken Mattingly, who was grounded after exposure to rubella (measles). + +A routine stir of an oxygen tank ignited damaged wire insulation inside it, causing an explosion that vented the contents of both of the SM's oxygen tanks to space. Without oxygen, needed for breathing and for generating electric power, the SM's propulsion and life support systems could not operate. The CM's systems had to be shut down to conserve its remaining resources for reentry, forcing the crew to transfer to the LM as a lifeboat. With the lunar landing canceled, mission controllers worked to bring the crew home alive. + +Although the LM was designed to support two men on the lunar surface for two days, Mission Control in Houston improvised new procedures so it could support three men for four days. The crew experienced great hardship, caused by limited power, a chilly and wet cabin and a shortage of potable water. There was a critical need to adapt the CM's cartridges for the carbon dioxide scrubber system to work in the LM; the crew and mission controllers were successful in improvising a solution. The astronauts' peril briefly renewed public interest in the Apollo program; tens of millions watched the splashdown in the South Pacific Ocean on television. + +An investigative review board found fault with preflight testing of the oxygen tank and Teflon being placed inside it. The board recommended changes, including minimizing the use of potentially combustible items inside the tank; this was done for Apollo 14. The story of Apollo 13 has been dramatized several times, most notably in the 1995 film Apollo 13 based on Lost Moon, the 1994 memoir co-authored by Lovell – and an episode of the 1998 miniseries From the Earth to the Moon. + +Background +In 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy challenged his nation to land an astronaut on the Moon by the end of the decade, with a safe return to Earth. NASA worked towards this goal incrementally, sending astronauts into space during Project Mercury and Project Gemini, leading up to the Apollo program. The goal was achieved with Apollo 11, which landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the lunar surface while Michael Collins orbited the Moon in Command Module Columbia. The mission returned to Earth on July 24, 1969, fulfilling Kennedy's challenge. + +NASA had contracted for fifteen Saturn V rockets to achieve the goal; at the time no one knew how many missions this would require. Since success was obtained in 1969 with the sixth SaturnV on Apollo 11, nine rockets remained available for a hoped-for total of ten landings. After the excitement of Apollo 11, the general public grew apathetic towards the space program and Congress continued to cut NASA's budget; Apollo 20 was canceled. Despite the successful lunar landing, the missions were considered so risky that astronauts could not afford life insurance to provide for their families if they died in space. + +Even before the first U.S. astronaut entered space in 1961, planning for a centralized facility to communicate with the spacecraft and monitor its performance had begun, for the most part the brainchild of Christopher C. Kraft Jr., who became NASA's first flight director. During John Glenn's Mercury Friendship 7 flight in February 1962 (the first crewed orbital flight by the U.S.), one of Kraft's decisions was overruled by NASA managers. He was vindicated by post-mission analysis and implemented a rule that, during the mission, the flight director's word was absolute – to overrule him, NASA would have to fire him on the spot. Flight directors during Apollo had a one-sentence job description, "The flight director may take any actions necessary for crew safety and mission success." + +In 1965, Houston's Mission Control Center opened, in part designed by Kraft and now named for him. In Mission Control, each flight controller, in addition to monitoring telemetry from the spacecraft, was in communication via voice loop to specialists in a Staff Support Room (or "back room"), who focused on specific spacecraft systems. + +Apollo 13 was to be the second H mission, meant to demonstrate precision lunar landings and explore specific sites on the Moon. With Kennedy's goal accomplished by Apollo 11, and Apollo 12 demonstrating that the astronauts could perform a precision landing, mission planners were able to focus on more than just landing safely and having astronauts minimally trained in geology gather lunar samples to take home to Earth. There was a greater role for science on Apollo 13, especially for geology, something emphasized by the mission's motto, Ex luna, scientia (From the Moon, knowledge). + +Astronauts and key Mission Control personnel + +Apollo 13's mission commander, Jim Lovell, was 42 years old at the time of the spaceflight. He was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and had been a naval aviator and test pilot before being selected for the second group of astronauts in 1962; he flew with Frank Borman in Gemini 7 in 1965 and Buzz Aldrin in Gemini 12 the following year before flying in Apollo 8 in 1968, the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon. At the time of Apollo 13, Lovell was the NASA astronaut with the most time in space, with 572 hours over the three missions. + +Jack Swigert, the command module pilot (CMP), was 38 years old and held a B.S. in mechanical engineering and an M.S. in aerospace science; he had served in the Air Force and in state Air National Guards and was an engineering test pilot before being selected for the fifth group of astronauts in 1966. Fred Haise, the lunar module pilot (LMP), was 35 years old. He held a B.S. in aeronautical engineering, had been a Marine Corps fighter pilot, and was a civilian research pilot for NASA when he was selected as a Group5 astronaut. + +According to the standard Apollo crew rotation, the prime crew for Apollo 13 would have been the backup crew for Apollo 10, with Mercury and Gemini veteran Gordon Cooper in command, Donn F. Eisele as CMP and Edgar Mitchell as LMP. Deke Slayton, NASA's Director of Flight Crew Operations, never intended to rotate Cooper and Eisele to a prime crew assignment, as both were out of favorCooper for his lax attitude towards training, and Eisele for incidents aboard Apollo7 and an extramarital affair. He assigned them to the backup crew because no other veteran astronauts were available. Slayton's original choices for Apollo 13 were Alan Shepard as commander, Stuart Roosa as CMP, and Mitchell as LMP. However, management felt Shepard needed more training time, as he had only recently resumed active status after surgery for an inner ear disorder and had not flown since 1961. Thus, Lovell's crew (himself, Haise and Ken Mattingly), having all backed up Apollo 11 and being slated for Apollo 14, was swapped with Shepard's. + +Swigert was originally CMP of Apollo 13's backup crew, with John Young as commander and Charles Duke as lunar module pilot. Seven days before launch, Duke contracted rubella from a friend of his son. This exposed both the prime and backup crews, who trained together. Of the five, only Mattingly was not immune through prior exposure. Normally, if any member of the prime crew had to be grounded, the remaining crew would be replaced as well, and the backup crew substituted, but Duke's illness ruled this out, so two days before launch, Mattingly was replaced by Swigert. Mattingly never developed rubella and later flew on Apollo 16. + +For Apollo, a third crew of astronauts, known as the support crew, was designated in addition to the prime and backup crews used on projects Mercury and Gemini. Slayton created the support crews because James McDivitt, who would command Apollo 9, believed that, with preparation going on in facilities across the US, meetings that needed a member of the flight crew would be missed. Support crew members were to assist as directed by the mission commander. Usually low in seniority, they assembled the mission's rules, flight plan, and checklists, and kept them updated; for Apollo 13, they were Vance D. Brand, Jack Lousma and either William Pogue or Joseph Kerwin. + +For Apollo 13, flight directors were Gene Kranz, White team (the lead flight director); Glynn Lunney, Black team; Milton Windler, Maroon team and Gerry Griffin, Gold team. The CAPCOMs (the person in Mission Control, during the Apollo program an astronaut, who was responsible for voice communications with the crew) for Apollo 13 were Kerwin, Brand, Lousma, Young and Mattingly. + +Mission insignia and call signs + +The Apollo 13 mission insignia depicts the Greek god of the Sun, Apollo, with three horses pulling his chariot across the face of the Moon, and the Earth seen in the distance. This is meant to symbolize the Apollo flights bringing the light of knowledge to all people. The mission motto, Ex luna, scientia ("From the Moon, knowledge"), appears. In choosing it, Lovell adapted the motto of his alma mater, the Naval Academy, Ex scientia, tridens ("From knowledge, sea power"). + +On the patch, the mission number appeared in Roman numerals as Apollo XIII. It did not have to be modified after Swigert replaced Mattingly, as it is one of only two Apollo mission insigniathe other being Apollo 11not to include the names of the crew. It was designed by artist Lumen Martin Winter, who based it on a mural he had painted for the St. Regis Hotel in New York City. The mural was later purchased by actor Tom Hanks, who portrayed Lovell in the movie Apollo 13, and is now in the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in Illinois. + +The mission's motto was in Lovell's mind when he chose the call sign Aquarius for the lunar module, taken from Aquarius, the bringer of water. Some in the media erroneously reported that the call sign was taken from a song by that name from the musical Hair. The command module's call sign, Odyssey, was chosen not only for its Homeric association but to refer to the recent movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, based on a short story by science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke. In his book, Lovell indicated he chose the name Odyssey because he liked the word and its definition: a long voyage with many changes of fortune. + +Space vehicle + +The Saturn V rocket used to carry Apollo 13 to the Moon was numbered SA-508, and was almost identical to those used on Apollo8 through 12. Including the spacecraft, the rocket weighed in at . The S-IC first stage's engines were rated to generate less total thrust than Apollo 12's, though they remained within specifications. To keep its liquid hydrogen propellent cold, the S-II second stage's cryogenic tanks were insulated; on earlier Apollo missions this came in the form of panels that were affixed, but beginning with Apollo 13, insulation was sprayed onto the exterior of the tanks. Extra propellant was carried as a test, since future J missions to the Moon would require more propellant for their heavier payloads. This made the vehicle the heaviest yet flown by NASA, and Apollo 13 was visibly slower to clear the launch tower than earlier missions. + +The Apollo 13 spacecraft consisted of Command Module 109 and Service Module 109 (together CSM-109), called Odyssey, and Lunar Module7 (LM-7), called Aquarius. Also considered part of the spacecraft was the launch escape system, which would propel the command module (CM) to safety in the event of a problem during liftoff, and the Spacecraft–LM Adapter, numbered as SLA-16, which housed the lunar module (LM) during the first hours of the mission. + +The LM stages, CM and service module (SM) were received at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in June 1969; the portions of the Saturn V were received in June and July. Thereafter, testing and assembly proceeded, culminating with the rollout of the launch vehicle, with the spacecraft atop it, on December 15, 1969. Apollo 13 was originally scheduled for launch on March 12, 1970; in January of that year, NASA announced the mission would be postponed until April 11, both to allow more time for planning and to spread the Apollo missions over a longer period of time. The plan was to have two Apollo flights per year and was in response to budgetary constraints that had recently seen the cancellation of Apollo 20. + +Training and preparation + +The Apollo 13 prime crew undertook over 1,000 hours of mission-specific training, more than five hours for every hour of the mission's ten-day planned duration. Each member of the prime crew spent over 400 hours in simulators of the CM and (for Lovell and Haise) of the LM at KSC and at Houston, some of which involved the flight controllers at Mission Control. Flight controllers participated in many simulations of problems with the spacecraft in flight, which taught them how to react in an emergency. Specialized simulators at other locations were also used by the crew members. + +The astronauts of Apollo 11 had minimal time for geology training, with only six months between crew assignment and launch; higher priorities took much of their time. Apollo 12 saw more such training, including practice in the field, using a CAPCOM and a simulated backroom of scientists, to whom the astronauts had to describe what they saw. Scientist-astronaut Harrison Schmitt saw that there was limited enthusiasm for geology field trips. Believing an inspirational teacher was needed, Schmitt arranged for Lovell and Haise to meet his old professor, Caltech's Lee Silver. The two astronauts, and backups Young and Duke, went on a field trip with Silver at their own time and expense. At the end of their week together, Lovell made Silver their geology mentor, who would be extensively involved in the geology planning for Apollo 13. Farouk El-Baz oversaw the training of Mattingly and his backup, Swigert, which involved describing and photographing simulated lunar landmarks from airplanes. El-Baz had all three prime crew astronauts describe geologic features they saw during their flights between Houston and KSC; Mattingly's enthusiasm caused other astronauts, such as Apollo 14's CMP, Roosa, to seek out El-Baz as a teacher. + +Concerned about how close Apollo 11's LM, Eagle, had come to running out of propellant during its lunar descent, mission planners decided that beginning with Apollo 13, the CSM would bring the LM to the low orbit from which the landing attempt would commence. This was a change from Apollo 11 and 12, on which the LM made the burn to bring it to the lower orbit. The change was part of an effort to increase the amount of hover time available to the astronauts as the missions headed into rougher terrain. + +The plan was to devote the first of the two four-hour lunar surface extravehicular activities (EVAs) to setting up the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) group of scientific instruments; during the second, Lovell and Haise would investigate Cone crater, near the planned landing site. The two astronauts wore their spacesuits for some 20 walk-throughs of EVA procedures, including sample gathering and use of tools and other equipment. They flew in the "Vomit Comet" in simulated microgravity or lunar gravity, including practice in donning and doffing spacesuits. To prepare for the descent to the Moon's surface, Lovell flew the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle (LLTV) after receiving helicopter training. Despite the crashes of one LLTV and one similar Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) prior to Apollo 13, mission commanders considered flying them invaluable experience and so prevailed on reluctant NASA management to retain them. + +Experiments and scientific objectives + +Apollo 13's designated landing site was near Fra Mauro crater; the Fra Mauro formation was believed to contain much material spattered by the impact that had filled the Imbrium basin early in the Moon's history. Dating it would provide information not only about the Moon, but about the Earth's early history. Such material was likely to be available at Cone crater, a site where an impact was believed to have drilled deep into the lunar regolith. + +Apollo 11 had left a seismometer on the Moon, but the solar-powered unit did not survive its first two-week-long lunar night. The Apollo 12 astronauts also left one as part of its ALSEP, which was nuclear-powered. Apollo 13 also carried a seismometer (known as the Passive Seismic Experiment, or PSE), similar to Apollo 12's, as part of its ALSEP, to be left on the Moon by the astronauts. That seismometer was to be calibrated by the impact, after jettison, of the ascent stage of Apollo 13's LM, an object of known mass and velocity impacting at a known location. + +Other ALSEP experiments on Apollo 13 included a Heat Flow Experiment (HFE), which would involve drilling two holes deep. This was Haise's responsibility; he was also to drill a third hole of that depth for a core sample. A Charged Particle Lunar Environment Experiment (CPLEE) measured the protons and electrons of solar origin reaching the Moon. The package also included a Lunar Atmosphere Detector (LAD) and a Dust Detector, to measure the accumulation of debris. The Heat Flow Experiment and the CPLEE were flown for the first time on Apollo 13; the other experiments had been flown before. + +To power the ALSEP, the SNAP-27 radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) was flown. Developed by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, SNAP-27 was first flown on Apollo 12. The fuel capsule contained about of plutonium oxide. The cask placed around the capsule for transport to the Moon was built with heat shields of graphite and of beryllium, and with structural parts of titanium and of Inconel materials. Thus, it was built to withstand the heat of reentry into the Earth's atmosphere rather than pollute the air with plutonium in the event of an aborted mission. + +A United States flag was also taken, to be erected on the Moon's surface. For Apollo 11 and 12, the flag had been placed in a heat-resistant tube on the front landing leg; it was moved for Apollo 13 to the Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly (MESA) in the LM descent stage. The structure to fly the flag on the airless Moon was improved from Apollo 12's. + +For the first time, red stripes were placed on the helmet, arms and legs of the commander's A7L spacesuit. This was done as, after Apollo 11, those reviewing the images taken had trouble distinguishing Armstrong from Aldrin, but the change was approved too late for Apollo 12. New drink bags that attached inside the helmets and were to be sipped from as the astronauts walked on the Moon were demonstrated by Haise during Apollo 13's final television broadcast before the accident. + +Apollo 13's primary mission objectives were to: "Perform selenological inspection, survey, and sampling of materials in a preselected region of the Fra Mauro Formation. Deploy and activate an Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package. Develop man's capability to work in the lunar environment. Obtain photographs of candidate exploration sites." The astronauts were also to accomplish other photographic objectives, including of the Gegenschein from lunar orbit, and of the Moon itself on the journey back to Earth. Some of this photography was to be performed by Swigert as Lovell and Haise walked on the Moon. Swigert was also to take photographs of the Lagrangian points of the Earth-Moon system. Apollo 13 had twelve cameras on board, including those for television and moving pictures. The crew was also to downlink bistatic radar observations of the Moon. None of these was attempted because of the accident. + +Flight of Apollo 13 + +Launch and translunar injection + +The mission was launched at the planned time, 2:13:00 pm EST (19:13:00 UTC) on April 11. An anomaly occurred when the second-stage, center (inboard) engine shut down about two minutes early. This was caused by severe pogo oscillations. Starting with Apollo 10, the vehicle's guidance system was designed to shut the engine down in response to chamber pressure excursions. Pogo oscillations had occurred on Titan rockets (used during the Gemini program) and on previous Apollo missions, but on Apollo 13 they were amplified by an interaction with turbopump cavitation. A fix to prevent pogo was ready for the mission, but schedule pressure did not permit the hardware's integration into the Apollo 13 vehicle. A post-flight investigation revealed the engine was one cycle away from catastrophic failure. The four outboard engines and the S-IVB third stage burned longer to compensate, and the vehicle achieved very close to the planned circular parking orbit, followed by a translunar injection (TLI) about two hours later, setting the mission on course for the Moon. + +After TLI, Swigert performed the separation and transposition maneuvers before docking the CSM Odyssey to the LM Aquarius, and the spacecraft pulled away from the third stage. Ground controllers then sent the third stage on a course to impact the Moon in range of the Apollo 12 seismometer, which it did just over three days into the mission. + +The crew settled in for the three-day trip to Fra Mauro. At 30:40:50 into the mission, with the TV camera running, the crew performed a burn to place Apollo 13 on a hybrid trajectory. The departure from a free-return trajectory meant that if no further burns were performed, Apollo 13 would miss Earth on its return trajectory, rather than intercept it, as with a free return. A free return trajectory could only reach sites near the lunar equator; a hybrid trajectory, which could be started at any point after TLI, allowed sites with higher latitudes, such as Fra Mauro, to be reached. Communications were enlivened when Swigert realized that in the last-minute rush, he had omitted to file his federal income tax return (due April 15), and amid laughter from mission controllers, asked how he could get an extension. He was found to be entitled to a 60-day extension for being out of the country at the deadline. + +Entry into the LM to test its systems had been scheduled for 58:00:00; when the crew awoke on the third day of the mission, they were informed it had been moved up three hours and was later moved up again by another hour. A television broadcast was scheduled for 55:00:00; Lovell, acting as emcee, showed the audience the interiors of Odyssey and Aquarius. The audience was limited since none of the television networks were carrying the broadcast, forcing Marilyn Lovell (Jim Lovell's wife) to go to the VIP room at Mission Control if she wanted to watch her husband and his crewmates. + +Accident + +Approximately six and a half minutes after the TV broadcastapproaching 56:00:00Apollo 13 was about from Earth. Haise was completing the shutdown of the LM after testing its systems while Lovell stowed the TV camera. Jack Lousma, the CAPCOM, sent minor instructions to Swigert, including changing the attitude of the craft to facilitate photography of Comet Bennett. + +The pressure sensor in one of the SM's oxygen tanks had earlier appeared to be malfunctioning, so Sy Liebergot (the EECOM, in charge of monitoring the CSM's electrical system) requested that the stirring fans in the tanks be activated. Normally this was done once daily; a stir would destratify the contents of the tanks, making the pressure readings more accurate. The Flight Director, Kranz, had Liebergot wait a few minutes for the crew to settle down after the telecast, then Lousma relayed the request to Swigert, who activated the switches controlling the fans, and after a few seconds turned them off again. + +Ninety-five seconds after Swigert activated those switches, the astronauts heard a "pretty large bang", accompanied by fluctuations in electrical power and the firing of the attitude control thrusters. Communications and telemetry to Earth were lost for 1.8 seconds, until the system automatically corrected by switching the high-gain S-band antenna, used for translunar communications, from narrow-beam to wide-beam mode. The accident happened at 55:54:53 (03:08 UTC on April 14, 10:08 PM EST, April 13). Swigert reported 26 seconds later, "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here," echoed at 55:55:42 by Lovell, "Houston, we've had a problem. We've had a Main B Bus undervolt." William Fenner was the guidance officer (GUIDO) who was the first to report a problem in the control room to Kranz. + +Lovell's initial thought on hearing the noise was that Haise had activated the LM's cabin-repressurization valve, which also produced a bang (Haise enjoyed doing so to startle his crewmates), but Lovell could see that Haise had no idea what had happened. Swigert initially thought that a meteoroid might have struck the LM, but he and Lovell quickly realized there was no leak. The "Main Bus B undervolt" meant that there was insufficient voltage produced by the SM's three fuel cells (fueled by hydrogen and oxygen piped from their respective tanks) to the second of the SM's two electric power distribution systems. Almost everything in the CSM required power. Although the bus momentarily returned to normal status, soon both buses A and B were short on voltage. Haise checked the status of the fuel cells and found that two of them were dead. Mission rules forbade entering lunar orbit unless all fuel cells were operational. + +In the minutes after the accident, there were several unusual readings, showing that tank2 was empty and tank1's pressure slowly falling, that the computer on the spacecraft had reset and that the high-gain antenna was not working. Liebergot initially missed the worrying signs from tank2 following the stir, as he was focusing on tank1, believing that its reading would be a good guide to what was present in tank2, as did controllers supporting him in the "back room". When Kranz questioned Liebergot on this, he initially responded that there might be false readings due to an instrumentation problem; he was often teased about that in the years to come. Lovell, looking out the window, reported "a gas of some sort" venting into space, making it clear that there was a serious problem. + +Since the fuel cells needed oxygen to operate, when Oxygen Tank1 ran dry, the remaining fuel cell would shut down, meaning the CSM's only significant sources of power and oxygen would be the CM's batteries and its oxygen "surge tank". These would be needed for the final hours of the mission, but the remaining fuel cell, already starved for oxygen, was drawing from the surge tank. Kranz ordered the surge tank isolated, saving its oxygen, but this meant that the remaining fuel cell would die within two hours, as the oxygen in tank1 was consumed or leaked away. The volume surrounding the spacecraft was filled with myriad small bits of debris from the accident, complicating any efforts to use the stars for navigation. The mission's goal became simply getting the astronauts back to Earth alive. + +Looping around the Moon + +The lunar module had charged batteries and full oxygen tanks for use on the lunar surface, so Kranz directed that the astronauts power up the LM and use it as a "lifeboat"a scenario anticipated but considered unlikely. Procedures for using the LM in this way had been developed by LM flight controllers after a training simulation for Apollo 10 in which the LM was needed for survival, but could not be powered up in time. Had Apollo 13's accident occurred on the return voyage, with the LM already jettisoned, the astronauts would have died, as they would have following an explosion in lunar orbit, including one while Lovell and Haise walked on the Moon. + +A key decision was the choice of return path. A "direct abort" would use the SM's main engine (the Service Propulsion System or SPS) to return before reaching the Moon. However, the accident could have damaged the SPS, and the fuel cells would have to last at least another hour to meet its power requirements, so Kranz instead decided on a longer route: the spacecraft would swing around the Moon before heading back to Earth. Apollo 13 was on the hybrid trajectory which was to take it to Fra Mauro; it now needed to be brought back to a free return. The LM's Descent Propulsion System (DPS), although not as powerful as the SPS, could do this, but new software for Mission Control's computers needed to be written by technicians as it had never been contemplated that the CSM/LM spacecraft would have to be maneuvered from the LM. As the CM was being shut down, Lovell copied down its guidance system's orientation information and performed hand calculations to transfer it to the LM's guidance system, which had been turned off; at his request Mission Control checked his figures. At 61:29:43.49 the DPS burn of 34.23 seconds took Apollo 13 back to a free return trajectory. + +The change would get Apollo 13 back to Earth in about four days' timethough with splashdown in the Indian Ocean, where NASA had few recovery forces. Jerry Bostick and other Flight Dynamics Officers (FIDOs) were anxious both to shorten the travel time and to move splashdown to the Pacific Ocean, where the main recovery forces were located. One option would shave 36 hours off the return time, but required jettisoning the SM; this would expose the CM's heat shield to space during the return journey, something for which it had not been designed. The FIDOs also proposed other solutions. After a meeting involving NASA officials and engineers, the senior individual present, Manned Spaceflight Center director Robert R. Gilruth, decided on a burn using the DPS, that would save 12 hours and land Apollo 13 in the Pacific. This "PC+2" burn would take place two hours after pericynthion, the closest approach to the Moon. At pericynthion, Apollo 13 set the record (per the Guinness Book of World Records), which still stands, for the highest absolute altitude attained by a crewed spacecraft: from Earth at 7:21 pm EST, April 14 (00:21:00 UTC April 15). + +While preparing for the burn the crew was told that the S-IVB had impacted the Moon as planned, leading Lovell to quip, "Well, at least something worked on this flight." Kranz's White team of mission controllers, who had spent most of their time supporting other teams and developing the procedures urgently needed to get the astronauts home, took their consoles for the PC+2 procedure. Normally, the accuracy of such a burn could be assured by checking the alignment Lovell had transferred to the LM's computer against the position of one of the stars astronauts used for navigation, but the light glinting off the many pieces of debris accompanying the spacecraft made that impractical. The astronauts accordingly used the one star available whose position could not be obscuredthe Sun. Houston also informed them that the Moon would be centered in the commander's window of the LM as they made the burn, which was almost perfectless than 0.3 meters (1 foot) per second off. The burn, at 79:27:38.95, lasted four minutes and 23 seconds. The crew then shut down most LM systems to conserve consumables. + +Return to Earth + +The LM carried enough oxygen, but that still left the problem of removing carbon dioxide, which was absorbed by canisters of lithium hydroxide pellets. +The LM's stock of canisters, meant to accommodate two astronauts for 45 hours on the Moon, was not enough to support three astronauts for the return journey to Earth. The CM had enough canisters, but they were of a different shape and size to the LM's, hence unable to be used in the LM's equipment. Engineers on the ground devised a way to bridge the gap, using plastic, covers ripped from procedure manuals, duct tape, and other items available on the spacecraft. NASA engineers referred to the improvised device as "the mailbox". The procedure for building the device was read to the crew by CAPCOM Joseph Kerwin over the course of an hour, and was built by Swigert and Haise; carbon dioxide levels began dropping immediately. Lovell later described this improvisation as "a fine example of cooperation between ground and space". + +The CSM's electricity came from fuel cells that produced water as a byproduct, but the LM was powered by silver-zinc batteries which did not, so both electrical power and water (needed for equipment cooling as well as drinking) would be critical. LM power consumption was reduced to the lowest level possible; Swigert was able to fill some drinking bags with water from the CM's water tap, but even assuming rationing of personal consumption, Haise initially calculated they would run out of water for cooling about five hours before reentry. This seemed acceptable because the systems of Apollo 11's LM, once jettisoned in lunar orbit, had continued to operate for seven to eight hours even with the water cut off. In the end, Apollo 13 returned to Earth with of water remaining. The crew's ration was 0.2 liters (6.8 fl oz) of water per person per day; the three astronauts lost a total of among them, and Haise developed a urinary tract infection. This infection was probably caused by the reduced water intake, but microgravity and effects of cosmic radiation might have impaired his immune system's reaction to the pathogen. + +Inside the darkened spacecraft, the temperature dropped as low as . Lovell considered having the crew don their spacesuits, but decided this would be too hot. Instead, Lovell and Haise wore their lunar EVA boots and Swigert put on an extra coverall. All three astronauts were cold, especially Swigert, who had got his feet wet while filling the water bags and had no lunar overshoes (since he had not been scheduled to walk on the Moon). As they had been told not to discharge their urine to space to avoid disturbing the trajectory, they had to store it in bags. Water condensed on the walls, though any condensation that may have been behind equipment panels caused no problems, partly because of the extensive electrical insulation improvements instituted after the Apollo 1 fire. Despite all this, the crew voiced few complaints. + +Flight controller John Aaron, along with Mattingly and several engineers and designers, devised a procedure for powering up the command module from full shutdownsomething never intended to be done in flight, much less under Apollo 13's severe power and time constraints. The astronauts implemented the procedure without apparent difficulty: Kranz later credited all three astronauts having been test pilots, accustomed to having to work in critical situations with their lives on the line, for their survival. + +Recognizing that the cold conditions combined with insufficient rest would hinder the time critical startup of the command module prior to reentry, at 133 hours into flight Mission Control gave Lovell the okay to fully power up the LM to raise the cabin temperature, which included restarting the LM's guidance computer. Having the LM's computer running enabled Lovell to perform a navigational sighting and calibrate the LM's Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). With the lunar module's computer aware of its location and orientation, the command module's computer was later calibrated in a reverse of the normal procedures used to set up the LM, shaving steps from the restart process and increasing the accuracy of the PGNCS-controlled reentry. + +Reentry and splashdown + +Despite the accuracy of the transearth injection, the spacecraft slowly drifted off course, necessitating a correction. As the LM's guidance system had been shut down following the PC+2 burn, the crew was told to use the line between night and day on the Earth to guide them, a technique used on NASA's Earth-orbit missions but never on the way back from the Moon. This DPS burn, at 105:18:42 for 14 seconds, brought the projected entry flight path angle back within safe limits. Nevertheless, yet another burn was needed at 137:40:13, using the LM's reaction control system (RCS) thrusters, for 21.5 seconds. The SM was jettisoned less than half an hour later, allowing the crew to see the damage for the first time, and photograph it. They reported that an entire panel was missing from the SM's exterior, the fuel cells above the oxygen tank shelf were tilted, that the high-gain antenna was damaged, and there was a considerable amount of debris elsewhere. Haise could see possible damage to the SM's engine bell, validating Kranz's decision not to use the SPS. + +The last problem to be solved was how to separate the lunar module a safe distance away from the command module just before reentry. The normal procedure, in lunar orbit, was to release the LM and then use the service module's RCS to pull the CSM away, but by this point, the SM had already been released. Grumman, manufacturer of the LM, assigned a team of University of Toronto engineers, led by senior scientist Bernard Etkin, to solve the problem of how much air pressure to use to push the modules apart. The astronauts applied the solution, which was successful. The LM reentered Earth's atmosphere and was destroyed, the remaining pieces falling in the deep ocean. Apollo 13's final midcourse correction had addressed the concerns of the Atomic Energy Commission, which wanted the cask containing the plutonium oxide intended for the SNAP-27 RTG to land in a safe place. The impact point was over the Tonga Trench in the Pacific, one of its deepest points, and the cask sank to the bottom. Later helicopter surveys found no radioactive leakage. + +Ionization of the air around the command module during reentry would typically cause a four-minute communications blackout. Apollo 13's shallow reentry path lengthened this to six minutes, longer than had been expected; controllers feared that the CM's heat shield had failed. Odyssey regained radio contact and splashed down safely in the South Pacific Ocean, , southeast of American Samoa and from the recovery ship, USS Iwo Jima. Although fatigued, the crew was in good condition except for Haise, who had developed a serious urinary tract infection because of insufficient water intake. The crew stayed overnight on the ship and flew to Pago Pago, American Samoa, the next day. They flew to Hawaii, where President Richard Nixon awarded them the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor. They stayed overnight, and then were flown back to Houston. + +En route to Honolulu, President Nixon stopped at Houston to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team. He originally planned to give the award to NASA administrator Thomas O. Paine, but Paine recommended the mission operations team. + +Public and media reaction + +Worldwide interest in the Apollo program was reawakened by the incident; television coverage was seen by millions. Four Soviet ships headed toward the landing area to assist if needed, and other nations offered assistance should the craft have to splash down elsewhere. President Nixon canceled appointments, phoned the astronauts' families, and drove to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where Apollo's tracking and communications were coordinated. + +The rescue received more public attention than any spaceflight to that point, other than the first Moon landing on Apollo 11. There were worldwide headlines, and people surrounded television sets to get the latest developments, offered by networks who interrupted their regular programming for bulletins. Pope Paul VI led a congregation of 10,000 people in praying for the astronauts' safe return; ten times that number offered prayers at a religious festival in India. The United States Senate on April 14 passed a resolution urging businesses to pause at 9:00pm local time that evening to allow for employee prayer. + +An estimated 40million Americans watched Apollo13's splashdown, carried live on all three networks, with another 30million watching some portion of the six and one-half hour telecast. Even more outside the U.S. watched. Jack Gould of The New York Times stated that Apollo13, "which came so close to tragic disaster, in all probability united the world in mutual concern more fully than another successful landing on the Moon would have". + +Investigation and response + +Review board + +Immediately upon the crew's return, NASA Administrator Paine and Deputy Administrator George Low appointed a review boardchaired by NASA Langley Research Center Director Edgar M. Cortright and including Neil Armstrong and six othersto investigate the accident. +The board's final report, sent to Paine on June 15, +found that the failure began in the service module's number2 oxygen tank. Damaged Teflon insulation on the wires to the stirring fan inside Oxygen Tank2 allowed the wires to short circuit and ignite this insulation. The resulting fire increased the pressure inside the tank until the tank dome failed, filling the fuel cell bay (SM Sector4) with rapidly expanding gaseous oxygen and combustion products. The pressure rise was sufficient to pop the rivets holding the aluminum exterior panel covering Sector4 and blow it out, exposing the sector to space and snuffing out the fire. The detached panel hit the nearby high-gain antenna, disabling the narrow-beam communication mode and interrupting communication with Earth for 1.8 seconds while the system automatically switched to the backup wide-beam mode. The sectors of the SM were not airtight from each other, and had there been time for the entire SM to become as pressurized as Sector4, the force on the CM's heat shield would have separated the two modules. The report questioned the use of Teflon and other materials shown to be flammable in supercritical oxygen, such as aluminum, within the tank. The board found no evidence pointing to any other theory of the accident. + +Mechanical shock forced the oxygen valves closed on the number1 and number3 fuel cells, putting them out of commission. The sudden failure of Oxygen Tank2 compromised Oxygen Tank1, causing its contents to leak out, possibly through a damaged line or valve, over the next 130 minutes, entirely depleting the SM's oxygen supply. With both SM oxygen tanks emptying, and with other damage to the SM, the mission had to be aborted. The board praised the response to the emergency: "The imperfection in Apollo 13 constituted a near disaster, averted only by outstanding performance on the part of the crew and the ground control team which supported them." + +Oxygen Tank 2 was manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Company of Boulder, Colorado, as subcontractor to North American Rockwell (NAR) of Downey, California, prime contractor for the CSM. It contained two thermostatic switches, originally designed for the command module's 28-volt DC power, but which could fail if subjected to the 65 volts used during ground testing at KSC. Under the original 1962 specifications, the switches would be rated for 28 volts, but revised specifications issued in 1965 called for 65 volts to allow for quicker tank pressurization at KSC. Nonetheless, the switches Beech used were not rated for 65 volts. + +At NAR's facility, Oxygen Tank 2 had been originally installed in an oxygen shelf placed in the Apollo 10 service module, SM-106, but which was removed to fix a potential electromagnetic interference problem and another shelf substituted. During removal, the shelf was accidentally dropped at least , because a retaining bolt had not been removed. The probability of damage from this was low, but it is possible that the fill line assembly was loose and made worse by the fall. After some retesting (which did not include filling the tank with liquid oxygen), in November 1968 the shelf was re-installed in SM-109, intended for Apollo 13, which was shipped to KSC in June 1969. + +The Countdown Demonstration Test took place with SM-109 in its place near the top of the Saturn V and began on March 16, 1970. During the test, the cryogenic tanks were filled, but Oxygen Tank 2 could not be emptied through the normal drain line, and a report was written documenting the problem. After discussion among NASA and the contractors, attempts to empty the tank resumed on March 27. When it would not empty normally, the heaters in the tank were turned on to boil off the oxygen. The thermostatic switches were designed to prevent the heaters from raising the temperature higher than , but they failed under the 65-volt power supply applied. Temperatures on the heater tube within the tank may have reached , most likely damaging the Teflon insulation. The temperature gauge was not designed to read higher than , so the technician monitoring the procedure detected nothing unusual. This heating had been approved by Lovell and Mattingly of the prime crew, as well as by NASA managers and engineers. Replacement of the tank would have delayed the mission by at least a month. The tank was filled with liquid oxygen again before launch; once electric power was connected, it was in a hazardous condition. The board found that Swigert's activation of the Oxygen Tank2 fan at the request of Mission Control caused an electric arc that set the tank on fire. + +The board conducted a test of an oxygen tank rigged with hot-wire ignitors that caused a rapid rise in temperature within the tank, after which it failed, producing telemetry similar to that seen with the Apollo 13 Oxygen Tank 2. Tests with panels similar to the one that was seen to be missing on SM Sector4 caused separation of the panel in the test apparatus. + +Changes in response + +For Apollo 14 and subsequent missions, the oxygen tank was redesigned, the thermostats being upgraded to handle the proper voltage. The heaters were retained since they were necessary to maintain oxygen pressure. The stirring fans, with their unsealed motors, were removed, which meant the oxygen quantity gauge was no longer accurate. This required adding a third tank so that no tank would go below half full. The third tank was placed in Bay1 of the SM, on the side opposite the other two, and was given an isolation valve that could isolate it from the fuel cells and from the other two oxygen tanks in an emergency and allow it to feed the CM's environmental system only. The quantity probe was upgraded from aluminum to stainless steel. + +All electrical wiring in Bay4 was sheathed in stainless steel. The fuel cell oxygen supply valves were redesigned to isolate the Teflon-coated wiring from the oxygen. The spacecraft and Mission Control monitoring systems were modified to give more immediate and visible warnings of anomalies. An emergency supply of of water was stored in the CM, and an emergency battery, identical to those that powered the LM's descent stage, was placed in the SM. The LM was modified to make transfer of power from the LM to the CM easier. + +Aftermath + +On February 5, 1971, Apollo 14's LM, Antares, landed on the Moon with astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell aboard, near Fra Mauro, the site Apollo 13 had been intended to explore. Haise served as CAPCOM during the descent to the Moon, and during the second EVA, during which Shepard and Mitchell explored near Cone crater. + +None of the Apollo 13 astronauts flew in space again. Lovell retired from NASA and the Navy in 1973, entering the private sector. Swigert was to have flown on the 1975 Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (the first joint mission with the Soviet Union) but was removed as part of the fallout from the Apollo 15 postal covers incident. He took a leave of absence from NASA in 1973 and left the agency to enter politics, being elected to the House of Representatives in 1982, but died of cancer before he could be sworn in. Haise was slated to have been the commander of the canceled Apollo 19 mission, and flew the Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests before retiring from NASA in 1979. + +Several experiments were completed during Apollo 13, even though the mission did not land on the Moon. One involved the launch vehicle's S-IVB (the Saturn V's third stage), which on prior missions had been sent into solar orbit once detached. The seismometer left by Apollo 12 had detected frequent impacts of small objects onto the Moon, but larger impacts would yield more information about the Moon's crust, so it was decided that, beginning with Apollo 13, the S-IVB would be crashed into the Moon. The impact occurred at 77:56:40 into the mission and produced enough energy that the gain on the seismometer, from the impact, had to be reduced. An experiment to measure the amount of atmospheric electrical phenomena during the ascent to orbitadded after Apollo 12 was struck by lightningreturned data indicating a heightened risk during marginal weather. A series of photographs of Earth, taken to test whether cloud height could be determined from synchronous satellites, achieved the desired results. + +As a joke, Grumman issued an invoice to North American Rockwell, prime contractor for the CSM, for "towing" the CSM most of the way to the Moon and back. Line items included 400001 miles at $1 each (plus $4 for the first mile); $536.05 for battery charging; oxygen; and four nights at $8 per night for an "additional guest in room" (Swigert). After a 20% "commercial discount", and a 2% discount for timely payment, the final total was $312,421.24. North American declined payment, noting that it had ferried three previous Grumman LMs to the Moon without compensation. + +The CM was disassembled for testing and parts remained in storage for years; some were used for a trainer for the Skylab Rescue Mission. That trainer was subsequently displayed at the Kentucky Science Center. Max Ary of the Cosmosphere made it a project to restore Odyssey; it is on display there, in Hutchinson, Kansas. + +Apollo 13 was called a "successful failure" by Lovell. Mike Massimino, a Space Shuttle astronaut, stated that Apollo 13 "showed teamwork, camaraderie and what NASA was really made of". The response to the accident has been repeatedly called "NASA's finest hour"; it is still viewed that way. Author Colin Burgess wrote, "the life-or-death flight of Apollo 13 dramatically evinced the colossal risks inherent in manned spaceflight. Then, with the crew safely back on Earth, public apathy set in once again." + +William R. Compton, in his book about the Apollo Program, said of Apollo 13, "Only a heroic effort of real-time improvisation by mission operations teams saved the crew." Rick Houston and Milt Heflin, in their history of Mission Control, stated, "Apollo 13 proved mission control could bring those space voyagers back home again when their lives were on the line." Former NASA chief historian Roger D. Launius wrote, "More than any other incident in the history of spaceflight, recovery from this accident solidified the world's belief in NASA's capabilities". Nevertheless, the accident convinced some officials, such as Manned Spaceflight Center director Gilruth, that if NASA kept sending astronauts on Apollo missions, some would inevitably be killed, and they called for as quick an end as possible to the program. Nixon's advisers recommended canceling the remaining lunar missions, saying that a disaster in space would cost him political capital. Budget cuts made such a decision easier, and during the pause after Apollo 13, two missions were canceled, meaning that the program ended with Apollo 17 in December 1972. + +Popular culture, media and 50th anniversary + +The 1974 movie Houston, We've Got a Problem, while set around the Apollo 13 incident, is a fictional drama about the crises faced by ground personnel when the emergency disrupts their work schedules and places further stress on their lives. Lovell publicly complained about the movie, saying it was "fictitious and in poor taste". + +"Houston... We've Got a Problem" was the title of an episode of the BBC documentary series A Life At Stake, broadcast in March 1978. This was an accurate, if simplified, reconstruction of the events. In 1994, during the 25th anniversary of Apollo 11, PBS released a 90-minute documentary titled Apollo 13: To the Edge and Back. + +Following the flight, the crew planned to write a book, but they all left NASA without starting it. After Lovell retired in 1991, he was approached by journalist Jeffrey Kluger about writing a non-fiction account of the mission. Swigert died in 1982 and Haise was no longer interested in such a project. The resultant book, Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13, was published in 1994. + +The next year, in 1995, a film adaptation of the book, Apollo 13, was released, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks as Lovell, Bill Paxton as Haise, Kevin Bacon as Swigert, Gary Sinise as Mattingly, Ed Harris as Kranz, and Kathleen Quinlan as Marilyn Lovell. James Lovell, Kranz, and other principals have stated that this film depicted the events of the mission with reasonable accuracy, given that some dramatic license was taken. For example, the film changes the tense of Lovell's famous follow-up to Swigert's original words from, "Houston, we've had a problem" to "Houston, we have a problem". The film also invented the phrase "Failure is not an option", uttered by Harris as Kranz in the film; the phrase became so closely associated with Kranz that he used it for the title of his 2000 autobiography. The film won two of the nine Academy Awards it was nominated for, Best Film Editing and Best Sound. + +In the 1998 miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, co-produced by Hanks and Howard, the mission is dramatized in the episode "We Interrupt This Program". Rather than showing the incident from the crew's perspective as in the Apollo 13 feature film, it is instead presented from an Earth-bound perspective of television reporters competing for coverage of the event. + +In 2020, the BBC World Service began airing 13 Minutes to the Moon, radio programs which draw on NASA audio from the mission, as well as archival and recent interviews with participants. Episodes began airing for Season 2 starting on March 8, 2020, with episode 1, "Time bomb: Apollo 13", explaining the launch and the explosion. Episode 2 details Mission Control's denial and disbelief of the accident, with other episodes covering other aspects of the mission. The seventh and final episode was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In "Delay to Episode 7", the BBC explained that the presenter of the series, medical doctor Kevin Fong, had been called into service. + +In advance of the 50th anniversary of the mission in 2020, an Apollo in Real Time site for the mission went online, allowing viewers to follow along as the mission unfolds, view photographs and video, and listen to audio of conversations between Houston and the astronauts as well as between mission controllers. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NASA did not hold any in-person events during April 2020 for the flight's 50th anniversary, but premiered a new documentary, Apollo 13: Home Safe on April 10, 2020. A number of events were rescheduled for later in 2020. + +Gallery + +Notes + +References + +Sources + +External links + +NASA reports + "Apollo 13: Lunar exploration experiments and photography summary" (Original mission as planned) (PDF) NASA, February 1970 + All NASA mission transcripts + "Apollo 13 Technical Air-to-Ground Voice Transcription" (PDF) NASA, April 1970 + +Multimedia + + +Fred Haise +Jim Lovell +Jack Swigert +Apollo program missions +Spacecraft launched by Saturn rockets +Articles containing video clips +Crewed missions to the Moon +Apollo 7 (October 11–22, 1968) was the first crewed flight in NASA's Apollo program, and saw the resumption of human spaceflight by the agency after the fire that had killed the three Apollo 1 astronauts during a launch rehearsal test on January 27, 1967. The Apollo7 crew was commanded by Walter M. Schirra, with command module pilot Donn F. Eisele and lunar module pilot R. Walter Cunningham (so designated even though Apollo7 did not carry a Lunar Module). + +The three astronauts were originally designated for the second crewed Apollo flight, and then as backups for Apollo1. After the Apollo1 fire, crewed flights were suspended while the cause of the accident was investigated and improvements made to the spacecraft and safety procedures, and uncrewed test flights made. Determined to prevent a repetition of the fire, the crew spent long periods monitoring the construction of their Apollo command and service modules (CSM). Training continued over much of the pause that followed the Apollo1 disaster. + +Apollo 7 was launched on October 11, 1968, from Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Florida, and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean eleven days later. Extensive testing of the CSM took place, and also the first live television broadcast from an American spacecraft. Despite tension between the crew and ground controllers, the mission was a complete technical success, giving NASA the confidence to send Apollo 8 into orbit around the Moon two months later. In part because of these tensions, none of the crew flew in space again, though Schirra had already announced he would retire from NASA after the flight. Apollo7 fulfilled Apollo1's mission of testing the CSM in low Earth orbit, and was a significant step towards NASA's goal of landing astronauts on the Moon. + +Background and personnel + +Schirra, one of the original "Mercury Seven" astronauts, graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1945. He flew Mercury-Atlas 8 in 1962, the fifth crewed flight of Project Mercury and the third to reach orbit, and in 1965 was the command pilot for Gemini 6A. He was a 45-year-old captain in the Navy at the time of Apollo7. Eisele graduated from the Naval Academy in 1952 with a B.S. in aeronautics. He elected to be commissioned in the Air Force, and was a 38-year-old major at the time of Apollo7. Cunningham joined the U.S. Navy in 1951, began flight training the following year, and served in a Marine flight squadron from 1953 to 1956, and was a civilian, aged 36, serving in the Marine Corps reserves with a rank of major, at the time of Apollo7. He received degrees in physics from UCLA, a B.A. in 1960 and an M.A. in 1961. Both Eisele and Cunningham were selected as part of the third group of astronauts in 1963. + +Eisele was originally slotted for a position on Gus Grissom's Apollo 1 crew along with Ed White, but days prior to the official announcement on March 25, 1966, Eisele sustained a shoulder injury that would require surgery. Instead, Roger Chaffee was given the position and Eisele was reassigned to Schirra's crew. + +Schirra, Eisele, and Cunningham were first named as an Apollo crew on September 29, 1966. They were to fly a second Earth orbital test of the Apollo Command Module (CM). Although delighted as a rookie to be assigned to a prime crew without having served as a backup, Cunningham was troubled by the fact that a second Earth orbital test flight, dubbed Apollo2, seemed unnecessary if Apollo1 was successful. He learned later that Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton, another of the Mercury Seven who had been grounded for medical reasons and supervised the astronauts, planned, with Schirra's support, to command the mission if he gained medical clearance. When this was not forthcoming, Schirra remained in command of the crew, and in November 1966, Apollo2 was cancelled and Schirra's crew assigned as backup to Grissom's. Thomas P. Stafford—assigned at that point as the backup commander of the second orbital test—stated that the cancellation followed Schirra and his crew submitting a list of demands to NASA management (Schirra wanted the mission to include a lunar module and a CM capable of docking with it), and that the assignment as backups left Schirra complaining that Slayton and Chief Astronaut Alan Shepard had destroyed his career. + +On January 27, 1967, Grissom's crew was conducting a launch-pad test for their planned February 21 mission, when a fire broke out in the cabin, killing all three men. A complete safety review of the Apollo program followed. Soon after the fire, Slayton asked Schirra, Eisele and Cunningham to fly the first mission after the pause. Apollo 7 would use the BlockII spacecraft designed for the lunar missions, as opposed to the Block I CSM used for Apollo 1, which was intended only to be used for the early Earth-orbit missions, as it lacked the capability of docking with a lunar module. The CM and astronauts' spacesuits had been extensively redesigned, to reduce any chance of a repeat of the accident which killed the first crew. Schirra's crew would test the life support, propulsion, guidance and control systems during this "open-ended" mission (meaning it would be extended as it passed each test). The duration was limited to 11 days, reduced from the original 14-day limit for Apollo1. + +The backup crew consisted of Stafford as commander, John W. Young as command module pilot, and Eugene A. Cernan as lunar module pilot. They became the prime crew of Apollo 10. Ronald E. Evans, John L. 'Jack' Swigert, and Edward G. Givens were assigned to the support crew for the mission. Givens died in a car accident on June 6, 1967, and William R. Pogue was assigned as his replacement. Evans was involved in hardware testing at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Swigert was the launch capsule communicator (CAPCOM) and worked on the mission's operational aspects. Pogue spent time modifying procedures. The support crew also filled in when the primary and backup crews were unavailable. + +CAPCOMs, the person in Mission Control responsible for communicating with the spacecraft (then always an astronaut) were Evans, Pogue, Stafford, Swigert, Young and Cernan. Flight directors were Glynn Lunney, Gene Kranz and Gerry Griffin. + +Preparation + +According to Cunningham, Schirra originally had limited interest in making a third spaceflight, beginning to focus on his post-NASA career. Flying the first mission after the fire changed things: "Wally Schirra was being pictured as the man chosen to rescue the manned space program. And that was a task worthy of Wally's interest." Eisele noted, "coming on the heels of the fire, we knew the fate and future of the entire manned space program—not to mention our own skins—was riding on the success or failure of Apollo7." + +Given the circumstances of the fire, the crew initially had little confidence in the staff at North American Aviation's plant at Downey, California, who built the Apollo command modules, and they were determined to follow their craft every step of the way through construction and testing. This interfered with training, but the simulators of the CM were not yet ready, and they knew it would be a long time until they launched. They spent long periods at Downey. Simulators were constructed at Houston's Manned Spacecraft Center and at KSC in Florida. Once these were available for use, the crew had difficulty finding enough time to do everything, even with the help of the backup and support crews; the crew often worked 12 or 14 hours per day. After the CM was completed and shipped to KSC, the focus of the crew's training shifted to Florida, though they went to Houston for planning and technical meetings. Rather than return to their Houston homes for the weekend, they often had to remain at KSC in order to participate in training or spacecraft testing. According to former astronaut Tom Jones in a 2018 article, Schirra, "with indisputable evidence of the risks his crew would be taking, now had immense leverage with management at NASA and North American, and he used it. In conference rooms or on the spacecraft assembly line, Schirra got his way." + +The Apollo 7 crew spent five hours in training for every hour they could expect to remain aboard if the mission went its full eleven days. In addition, they attended technical briefings and pilots' meetings, and studied on their own. They undertook launch pad evacuation training, water egress training to exit the vehicle after splashdown, and learned to use firefighting equipment. They trained on the Apollo Guidance Computer at MIT. Each crew member spent 160 hours in CM simulations, in some of which Mission Control in Houston participated live. The "plugs out" test—the test that had killed the Apollo1 crew—was conducted with the prime crew in the spacecraft, but with the hatch open. One reason the Apollo1 crew had died was because it was impossible to open the inward-opening hatch before the fire raced through the cabin; this was changed for Apollo7. + +Command modules similar to that used on Apollo7 were subjected to tests in the run-up to the mission. A three-astronaut crew (Joseph P. Kerwin, Vance D. Brand and Joe H. Engle) was inside a CM that was placed in a vacuum chamber at the Manned Spaceflight Center in Houston for eight days in June 1968 to test spacecraft systems. Another crew (James Lovell, Stuart Roosa and Charles M. Duke) spent 48 hours at sea aboard a CM lowered into the Gulf of Mexico from a naval vessel in April 1968, to test how systems would respond to seawater. Further tests were conducted the following month in a tank at Houston. Fires were set aboard a boilerplate CM using various atmospheric compositions and pressures. The results led to the decision to use 60 percent oxygen and 40 percent nitrogen within the CM at launch, which would be replaced with a lower pressure of pure oxygen within four hours, as providing adequate fire protection. Other boilerplate spacecraft were subjected to drops to test parachutes, and to simulate the likely damage if a CM came down on land. All results were satisfactory. + +During the run-up to the mission, the Soviets sent uncrewed probes Zond 4 and Zond 5 (Zond 5 carried two tortoises) around the Moon, seeming to foreshadow a circumlunar crewed mission. NASA's Lunar Module (LM) was suffering delays, and Apollo Program Spacecraft Manager George Low proposed that if Apollo7 was a success, that Apollo 8 go to lunar orbit without a LM. The acceptance of Low's proposal raised the stakes for Apollo7. According to Stafford, Schirra "clearly felt the full weight of the program riding on a successful mission and as a result became more openly critical and more sarcastic." + +Throughout the Mercury and Gemini programs, McDonnell Aircraft engineer Guenter Wendt led the spacecraft launch pad teams, with ultimate responsibility for condition of the spacecraft at launch. He earned the astronauts' respect and admiration, including Schirra's. However, the spacecraft contractor had changed from McDonnell (Mercury and Gemini) to North American (Apollo), so Wendt was not the pad leader for Apollo1. So adamant was Schirra in his desire to have Wendt back as pad leader for his Apollo flight, that he got his boss Slayton to persuade North American management to hire Wendt away from McDonnell, and Schirra personally lobbied North American's launch operations manager to change Wendt's shift from midnight to day so he could be pad leader for Apollo7. Wendt remained as pad leader for the entire Apollo program. When he departed the spacecraft area as the pad was evacuated prior to launch, after Cunningham said, "I think Guenter's going", Eisele responded "Yes, I think Guenter went." + +Hardware + +Spacecraft + +The Apollo 7 spacecraft included Command and Service Module 101 (CSM-101) the first BlockII CSM to be flown. The BlockII craft had the capability of docking with a LM, though none was flown on Apollo7. The spacecraft also included the launch escape system and a spacecraft-lunar module adapter (SLA, numbered as SLA-5), though the latter included no LM and instead provided a mating structure between the SM and the S-IVB's Instrument Unit, with a structural stiffener substituted for the LM. The launch escape system was jettisoned after S-IVB ignition, while the SLA was left behind on the spent S-IVB when the CSM separated from it in orbit. + +Following the Apollo 1 fire, the BlockII CSM was extensively redesigned—more than 1,800 changes were recommended, of which 1,300 were implemented for Apollo7. Prominent among these was the new aluminum and fiberglass outward-opening hatch, which the crew could open in seven seconds from within, and the pad crew in ten seconds from outside. Other changes included replacement of aluminum tubing in the high-pressure oxygen system with stainless steel, replacement of flammable materials with non-flammable (including changing plastic switches for metal ones) and, for crew protection in the event of a fire, an emergency oxygen system to shield them from toxic fumes, as well as firefighting equipment. + +After the Gemini 3 craft was dubbed Molly Brown by Grissom, NASA forbade naming spacecraft. Despite this prohibition, Schirra wanted to name his ship "Phoenix," but NASA refused him permission. The first CM to be given a call sign other than the mission designation would be that of Apollo 9, which carried a LM that would separate from it and then re-dock, necessitating distinct call signs for the two vehicles. + +Launch vehicle + +Since it flew in low Earth orbit and did not include a LM, Apollo7 was launched with the Saturn IB booster rather than the much larger and more powerful Saturn V. That Saturn IB was designated SA-205, and was the fifth Saturn IB to be flown—the earlier ones did not carry crews into space. It differed from its predecessors in that stronger propellant lines to the augmented spark igniter in the J-2 engines had been installed, so as to prevent a repetition of the early shutdown that had occurred on the uncrewed Apollo 6 flight; postflight analysis had shown that the propellant lines to the J-2 engines, also used in the Saturn V tested on Apollo6, had leaked. + +The Saturn IB was a two-stage rocket, with the second stage an S-IVB similar to the third stage of the Saturn V, the rocket used by all later Apollo missions. The Saturn IB was used after the close of the Apollo Program to bring crews in Apollo CSMs to Skylab, and for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project. + +Apollo 7 was the only crewed Apollo mission to launch from Cape Kennedy Air Force Station's Launch Complex 34. All subsequent Apollo and Skylab spacecraft flights (including Apollo–Soyuz) were launched from Launch Complex 39 at the nearby Kennedy Space Center. Launch Complex 34 was declared redundant and decommissioned in 1969, making Apollo7 the last human spaceflight mission to launch from the Cape Air Force Station in the 20th century. + +Mission highlights + +The main purposes of the Apollo7 flight were to show that the Block II CM would be habitable and reliable over the length of time required for a lunar mission, to show that the service propulsion system (SPS, the spacecraft's main engine) and the CM's guidance systems could perform a rendezvous in orbit, and later make a precision reentry and splashdown. In addition, there were a number of specific objectives, including evaluating the communications systems and the accuracy of onboard systems such as the propellant tank gauges. Many of the activities aimed at gathering these data were scheduled for early in the mission, so that if the mission was terminated prematurely, they would already have been completed, allowing for fixes to be made prior to the next Apollo flight. + +Launch and testing + +Apollo 7, the first crewed American space flight in 22 months, launched from Launch Complex 34 at 11:02:45am EDT (15:02:45UTC) on Friday, October 11, 1968. + +During the countdown, the wind was blowing in from the east. Launching under these weather conditions was in violation of safety rules, since in the event of a launch vehicle malfunction and abort, the CM might be blown back over land instead of making the usual water landing. Apollo7 was equipped with the old Apollo1-style crew couches, which provided less protection than later ones. Schirra later related that he felt the launch should have been scrubbed, but managers waived the rule and he yielded under pressure. + +Liftoff proceeded flawlessly; the Saturn IB performed well on its first crewed launch and there were no significant anomalies during the boost phase. The astronauts described it as very smooth. The ascent made the 45-year-old Schirra the oldest person to that point to enter space, and, as it proved, the only astronaut to fly Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. + +Within the first three hours of flight, the astronauts performed two actions which simulated what would be required on a lunar mission. First, they maneuvered the craft with the S-IVB still attached, as would be required for the burn that would take lunar missions to the Moon. Then, after separation from the S-IVB, Schirra turned the CSM around and approached a docking target painted on the S-IVB, simulating the docking maneuver with the lunar module on Moon-bound missions prior to extracting the combined craft. +After station keeping with the S-IVB for 20 minutes, Schirra let it drift away, putting between the CSM and it in preparation for the following day's rendezvous attempt. + +The astronauts also enjoyed a hot lunch, the first hot meal prepared on an American spacecraft. Schirra had brought instant coffee along over the opposition of NASA doctors, who argued it added nothing nutritionally. Five hours after launch, he reported having, and enjoying, his first plastic bag full of coffee. + +The purpose of the rendezvous was to demonstrate the CSM's ability to match orbits with and rescue a LM after an aborted lunar landing attempt, or following liftoff from the lunar surface. This was to occur on the second day; but by the end of the first, Schirra had reported he had a cold, and, despite Slayton coming on the loop to argue in favor, declined Mission Control's request that the crew power up and test the onboard television camera prior to the rendezvous, citing the cold, that the crew had not eaten, and that there was already a very full schedule. + +The rendezvous was complicated by the fact that the Apollo7 spacecraft lacked a rendezvous radar, something the Moon-bound missions would have. The SPS, the engine that would be needed to send later Apollo CSMs into and out of lunar orbit, had been fired only on a test stand. Although the astronauts were confident it would work, they were concerned it might fire in an unexpected manner, necessitating an early end to the mission. The burns would be computed from the ground but the final work in maneuvering up to the S-IVB would require Eisele to use the telescope and sextant to compute the final burns, with Schirra applying the ship's reaction control system (RCS) thrusters. Eisele was startled by the violent jolt caused by activating the SPS. The thrust caused Schirra to yell, "Yabba dabba doo!" in reference to The Flintstones cartoon. Schirra eased the craft close to the S-IVB, which was tumbling out of control, successfully completing the rendezvous. + +The first television broadcast took place on October 14. It began with a view of a card reading "From the Lovely Apollo Room high atop everything", recalling tag lines used by band leaders on 1930s radio broadcasts. Cunningham served as camera operator with Eisele as emcee. During the seven-minute broadcast, the crew showed off the spacecraft and gave the audience views of the southern United States. Before the close, Schirra held another sign, "Keep those cards and letters coming in folks", another old-time radio tag line that had been used recently by Dean Martin. This was the first live television broadcast from an American spacecraft (Gordon Cooper had transmitted slow scan television pictures from Faith7 in 1963, but the pictures were of poor quality and were never broadcast). According to Jones, "these apparently amiable astronauts delivered to NASA a solid public relations coup." Daily television broadcasts of about 10 minutes each followed, during which the crew held up more signs and educated their audience about spaceflight; after the return to Earth, they were awarded a special Emmy for the telecasts. + +Later on October 14, the craft's onboard radar receiver was able to lock onto a ground-based transmitter, again showing a CSM in lunar orbit could keep contact with a LM returning from the Moon's surface. Throughout the remainder of the mission, the crew continued to run tests on the CSM, including of the propulsion, navigation, environmental, electrical and thermal control systems. All checked out well; according to authors Francis French and Colin Burgess, "The redesigned Apollo spacecraft was better than anyone had dared to hope." Eisele found that navigation was not as easy as anticipated; he found it difficult to use Earth's horizon in sighting stars due to the fuzziness of the atmosphere, and water dumps made it difficult to discern which glistening points were stars and which ice particles. By the end of the mission, the SPS engine had been fired eight times without any problems. + +One difficulty that was encountered was with the sleep schedule, which called for one crew member to remain awake at all times; Eisele was to remain awake while the others slept, and sleep during part of the time the others were awake. This did not work well, as it was hard for crew members to work without making a disturbance. Cunningham later remembered waking up to find Eisele dozing. + +Conflict and splashdown + +Schirra was angered by NASA managers allowing the launch to proceed despite the winds, saying "The mission pushed us to the wall in terms of risk." Jones said, "This prelaunch dispute was the prelude to a tug of war over command decisions for the rest of the mission." Lack of sleep and Schirra's cold probably contributed to the conflict between the astronauts and Mission Control that surfaced from time to time during the flight. + +The testing of the television resulted in a disagreement between the crew and Houston. Schirra stated at the time, "You've added two burns to this flight schedule, and you've added a urine water dump; and we have a new vehicle up here, and I can tell you at this point, TV will be delayed without any further discussion until after the rendezvous." Schirra later wrote, "we'd resist anything that interfered with our main mission objectives. On this particular Saturday morning a TV program clearly interfered." Eisele agreed in his memoirs, "We were preoccupied with preparations for that critical exercise and didn't want to divert our attention with what seemed to be trivialities at the time.... Evidently the earth people felt differently; there was a real stink about the hotheaded, recalcitrant Apollo7 crew who wouldn't take orders." French and Burgess wrote, "When this point is considered objectively—that in a front-loaded mission the rendezvous, alignment, and engine tests should be done before television shows—it is hard to argue with him [Schirra]." Although Slayton gave in to Schirra, the commander's attitude surprised flight controllers. + +On Day 8, after being asked to follow a new procedure passed up from the ground that caused the computer to freeze, Eisele radioed, "We didn't get the results that you were after. We didn't get a damn thing, in fact... you bet your ass... as far as we're concerned, somebody down there screwed up royally when he laid that one on us." Schirra later stated his belief that this was the one main occasion when Eisele upset Mission Control. The next day saw more conflict, with Schirra telling Mission Control after having to make repeated firings of the RCS system to keep the spacecraft stable during a test, "I wish you would find out the idiot's name who thought up this test. I want to find out, and I want to talk to him personally when I get back down." Eisele joined in, "While you are at it, find out who dreamed up 'P22 horizon test'; that is a beauty also." + +A further source of tension between Mission Control and the crew was that Schirra repeatedly expressed the view that the reentry should be conducted with their helmets off. He perceived a risk that their eardrums might burst due to the sinus pressure from their colds, and they wanted to be able to pinch their noses and blow to equalize the pressure as it increased during reentry. This would have been impossible wearing the helmets. Over several days, Schirra refused advice from the ground that the helmets should be worn, stating it was his prerogative as commander to decide this, though Slayton warned him he would have to answer for it after the flight. Schirra stated in 1994, "In this case I had a cold, and I'd had enough discussion with the ground, and I didn't have much more time to talk about whether we would put the helmet on or off. I said, essentially, I'm on board, I'm commanding. They could wear all the black armbands they wanted if I was lost or if I lost my hearing. But I had the responsibility for getting through the mission." No helmets were worn during the entry. Director of Flight Operations Christopher C. Kraft demanded an explanation for what he believed was Schirra's insubordination from the CAPCOM, Stafford. Kraft later said, "Schirra was exercising his commander’s right to have the last word, and that was that." + +Apollo 7 splashed down without incident at 11:11:48 UTC on October 22, 1968, SSW of Bermuda and north of the recovery ship USS Essex. The mission's duration was 10days, 20hours, 9minutes and 3seconds. + +Assessment and aftermath + +After the mission, NASA awarded Schirra, Eisele and Cunningham its Exceptional Service Medal in recognition of their success. On November 2, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson held a ceremony at the LBJ Ranch in Johnson City, Texas, to present the astronauts with the medals. He also presented NASA's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal, to recently retired NASA administrator James E. Webb, for his "outstanding leadership of America's space program" since the beginning of Apollo. Johnson also invited the crew to the White House, and they went there in December 1968. + +Despite the difficulties between the crew and Mission Control, the mission successfully met its objectives to verify the Apollo command and service module's flightworthiness, allowing Apollo8's flight to the Moon to proceed just two months later. John T. McQuiston wrote in The New York Times after Eisele's death in 1987 that Apollo7's success brought renewed confidence to NASA's space program. According to Jones, "Three weeks after the Apollo7 crew returned, NASA administrator Thomas Paine green-lighted Apollo8 to launch in late December and orbit the Moon. Apollo7 had delivered NASA from its trial by fire—it was the first small step down a path that would lead another crew, nine months later, to the Sea of Tranquility." + +General Sam Phillips, the Apollo Program Manager, said at the time, "Apollo7 goes into my book as a perfect mission. We accomplished 101 percent of our objectives." Kraft wrote, "Schirra and his crew did it all—or at least all of it that counted... [T]hey proved to everyone's satisfaction that the SPS engine was one of the most reliable we'd ever sent into space. They operated the Command and Service Modules with true professionalism." Eisele wrote, "We were insolent, high-handed, and Machiavellian at times. Call it paranoia, call it smart—it got the job done. We had a great flight." +Kranz stated in 1998, "we all look back now with a longer perspective. Schirra really wasn't on us as bad as it seemed at the time.... Bottom line was, even with a grumpy commander, we got the job done as a team." + +None of the Apollo 7 crew members flew in space again. According to Jim Lovell, "Apollo7 was a very successful flight—they did an excellent job—but it was a very contentious flight. They all teed off the ground people quite considerably, and I think that kind of put a stop on future flights [for them]." Schirra had announced, before the flight, his retirement from NASA and the Navy, effective July 1, 1969. The other two crew members had their spaceflight careers stunted by their involvement in Apollo7; by some accounts, Kraft told Slayton he was unwilling to work in future with any member of the crew. Cunningham heard the rumors that Kraft had said this and confronted him in early 1969; Kraft denied making the statement "but his reaction wasn't exactly outraged innocence." Eisele's career may also have been affected by becoming the first active astronaut to divorce, followed by a quick remarriage, and an indifferent performance as backup CMP for Apollo10. He resigned from the Astronaut Office in 1970 though he remained with NASA at the Langley Research Center in Virginia until 1972, when he was eligible for retirement. Cunningham was made the leader of the Astronaut Office's Skylab division. He related that he was informally offered command of the first Skylab crew, but when this instead went to Apollo 12 commander Pete Conrad, with Cunningham offered the position of backup commander, he resigned as an astronaut in 1971. + +Schirra, Eisele and Cunningham were the only crew, of all the Apollo, Skylab and Apollo–Soyuz missions, who had not been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal immediately following their missions (though Schirra had received the medal twice before, for his Mercury and Gemini missions). Therefore, NASA administrator Michael D. Griffin decided to belatedly award the medals to the crew in October 2008, "[f]or exemplary performance in meeting all the Apollo7 mission objectives and more on the first crewed Apollo mission, paving the way for the first flight to the Moon on Apollo8 and the first crewed lunar landing on Apollo11." Only Cunningham was still alive at the time as Eisele had died in 1987 and Schirra in 2007. Eisele's widow accepted his medal, and Apollo 8 crew member Bill Anders accepted Schirra's. Other Apollo astronauts, including Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Alan Bean, were present at the award ceremony. Kraft, who had been in conflict with the crew during the mission, sent a conciliatory video message of congratulations, saying: "We gave you a hard time once but you certainly survived that and have done extremely well since... I am frankly, very proud to call you a friend." + +Mission insignia + +The insignia for the flight shows a command and service module with its SPS engine firing, the trail from that fire encircling a globe and extending past the edges of the patch symbolizing the Earth-orbital nature of the mission. The Roman numeralVII appears in the South Pacific Ocean and the crew's names appear on a wide black arc at the bottom. The patch was designed by Allen Stevens of Rockwell International. + +Spacecraft location + +In January 1969, the Apollo7 command module was displayed on a NASA float in the inauguration parade of President Richard M. Nixon, as were the Apollo7 astronauts. After being transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1970, the spacecraft was loaned to the National Museum of Science and Technology, in Ottawa, Ontario. It was returned to the United States in 2004. Currently, the Apollo7 CM is on loan to the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field in Dallas, Texas. + +Depiction in media + +On November 6, 1968, comedian Bob Hope broadcast one of his variety television specials from NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston to honor the Apollo7 crew. Barbara Eden, star of the popular comedy series I Dream of Jeannie, which featured fictional astronauts among its regular characters, appeared with Schirra, Eisele and Cunningham. + +Schirra parlayed the head cold he contracted during Apollo7 into a television advertising contract as a spokesman for Actifed, an over-the-counter version of the medicine he took in space. + +The Apollo 7 mission is dramatized in the 1998 miniseries From the Earth to the Moon episode "We Have Cleared the Tower", with Mark Harmon as Schirra, John Mese as Eisele, Fredric Lehne as Cunningham and Nick Searcy as Slayton. + +Gallery + +See also + List of Apollo missions + Timeline of longest spaceflights + +Notes + +References + +Bibliography + +Further reading + +External links + + Master catalog entry at NASA/NSSDC\ + The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology NASA, NASA SP-4009 + "Apollo Program Summary Report" (PDF), NASA, JSC-09423, April 1975 + + + +Apollo 7 +1968 in the United States +Apollo 07 +Human spaceflights +Spacecraft launched in 1968 +Spacecraft which reentered in 1968 +October 1968 events +Spacecraft launched by Saturn rockets +Wally Schirra +Apollo 9 (March 313, 1969) was the third human spaceflight in NASA's Apollo program. Flown in low Earth orbit, it was the second crewed Apollo mission that the United States launched via a Saturn V rocket, and was the first flight of the full Apollo spacecraft: the command and service module (CSM) with the Lunar Module (LM). The mission was flown to qualify the LM for lunar orbit operations in preparation for the first Moon landing by demonstrating its descent and ascent propulsion systems, showing that its crew could fly it independently, then rendezvous and dock with the CSM again, as would be required for the first crewed lunar landing. Other objectives of the flight included firing the LM descent engine to propel the spacecraft stack as a backup mode (as would be required on the Apollo 13 mission), and use of the portable life support system backpack outside the LM cabin. + +The three-man crew consisted of Commander James McDivitt, Command Module Pilot David Scott, and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart. During the ten-day mission, they tested systems and procedures critical to landing on the Moon, including the LM engines, backpack life support systems, navigation systems and docking maneuvers. + +After launching on March 3, 1969, the crew performed the first crewed flight of a lunar module, the first docking and extraction of the same, one two-person spacewalk (EVA), and the second docking of two crewed spacecraft—two months after the Soviets performed a spacewalk crew transfer between and . The mission concluded on March 13 and was a complete success. It proved the LM worthy of crewed spaceflight, setting the stage for the dress rehearsal for the lunar landing, Apollo 10, before the ultimate goal, landing on the Moon. + +Mission background + +In April 1966, McDivitt, Scott, and Schweickart were selected by Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton as the second Apollo crew. Their initial job was as backup to the first Apollo crew to be chosen, Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, for the first crewed Earth orbital test flight of the block I command and service module, designated AS-204. Delays in the block I CSM development pushed AS-204 into 1967. The revised plan had the McDivitt crew scheduled for the second crewed CSM, which was to rendezvous in Earth orbit with an uncrewed LM, launched separately. The third crewed mission, to be commanded by Frank Borman, was to be the first launch of a SaturnV with a crew. + +On January 27, 1967, Grissom's crew was conducting a launch-pad test for their planned February 21 mission, which they named Apollo 1, when a fire broke out in the cabin, killing all three men. A complete safety review of the Apollo program followed. During this time Apollo 5 took place, an uncrewed launch to test the first lunar module (LM-1). + +Under the new schedule, the first Apollo crewed mission to go into space would be Apollo 7, planned for October 1968. This mission, which was to test the block II command module, did not include a lunar module. In 1967, NASA had adopted a series of lettered missions leading up to the crewed lunar landing, the "G mission", completion of one being a prerequisite to the next. Apollo7 would be the "Cmission", but the "Dmission" required testing of the crewed lunar module, which was running behind schedule and endangering John F. Kennedy's goal of Americans walking on the Moon and returning safely to Earth by the end of the 1960s. McDivitt's crew had been announced by NASA in November 1967 as prime crew for the Dmission, lengthy testing of the command and lunar modules in Earth orbit. + +Seeking to keep Kennedy's goal on schedule, in August 1968, Apollo Program Manager George M. Low proposed that if Apollo7 in October went well, Apollo8 would go to lunar orbit without a LM. Until then, Apollo8 was the Dmission with Apollo9 the "E mission", testing in medium Earth orbit. After NASA approved sending Apollo8 to the Moon, while making Apollo9 the Dmission, Slayton offered McDivitt the opportunity to stay with Apollo8 and thus go to lunar orbit. McDivitt turned it down on behalf of his crew, preferring to stay with the Dmission, now Apollo9. + +Apollo7 went well, and the crews were switched. The crew swap also affected who would be the first astronauts to land on the Moon, for when the crews for Apollo8 and9 were swapped, so were the backup crews. Since the rule of thumb was for backup crews to fly as prime crew three missions later, this put Neil Armstrong's crew (Borman's backup) in position to make the first landing attempt on Apollo 11 instead of Pete Conrad's crew, who made the second landing on Apollo 12. + +Framework + +Crew and key Mission Control personnel + +McDivitt was in the Air Force; selected as a member of the second group of astronauts in 1962, he was command pilot of Gemini 4 (1965). Scott, also Air Force, was selected in the third astronaut group in 1963 and flew alongside Neil Armstrong in Gemini 8, on which the first spacecraft docking was performed. Schweickart, a civilian who had served in the Air Force and Massachusetts Air National Guard, was selected as a Group3 astronaut but was not assigned to a Gemini mission and had no spaceflight experience. + +The backup crew consisted of Pete Conrad as commander, Command Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon Jr., and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L. Bean. This crew flew as prime on Apollo 12 in November 1969. The support crew for Apollo9 consisted of Stuart A. Roosa, Jack R. Lousma, Edgar D. Mitchell and Alfred M. Worden. Lousma was not an original member of the Apollo9 support crew, but was assigned after Fred W. Haise Jr. was moved to the position of backup lunar module pilot on Apollo 8—several astronauts were shifted in the wake of Michael Collins being removed from the Apollo8 prime crew because of treatment for bone spurs. + +The flight directors were Gene Kranz, first shift, Gerry Griffin, second shift and Pete Frank, third shift. Capsule communicators were Conrad, Gordon, Bean, Worden, Roosa and Ronald Evans. + +Mission insignia + +The circular patch shows a drawing of a Saturn V rocket with the letters USA on it. To its right, an Apollo CSM is shown next to a LM, with the CSM's nose pointed at the "front door" of the LM rather than at its top docking port. The CSM is trailing rocket fire in a circle. The crew's names are along the top edge of the circle, with APOLLO IX at the bottom. The "D" in McDivitt's name is filled with red to mark that this was the "Dmission" in the alphabetic sequence of Apollo missions. The patch was designed by Allen Stevens of Rockwell International. + +Planning and training + +Apollo 9's main purpose was to qualify the LM for crewed lunar flight, demonstrating, among other things, that it could perform the maneuvers in space that would be needed for a lunar landing, including docking with the CSM. Colin Burgess and Francis French, in their book about the Apollo Program, deemed McDivitt's crew among the best trained ever—they had worked together since January 1966, at first as backups for Apollo 1, and they always had the assignment of being the first to fly the LM. Flight Director Gene Kranz deemed the Apollo9 crew the best prepared for their mission, and felt Scott was an extremely knowledgeable CMP. Crew members underwent some 1,800 hours of mission-specific training, about seven hours for every hour they would spend in flight. Their training even started on the day before the Apollo1 fire, in the very first Block II spacecraft in which they were originally intended to fly. They took part in the vehicle checkouts for the CSM at North American Rockwell's facility in Downey, California, and for the LM at Grumman's plant in Bethpage, New York. They also participated in testing of the modules at the launch site. + +Among the types of the training which the crew underwent were simulations of zero-G, both underwater and in the Vomit Comet. During these exercises, they practiced for the planned extravehicular activities (EVAs). They traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for training on the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) at MIT. The crew studied the sky at the Morehead Planetarium and at the Griffith Planetarium, especially focusing on the 37 stars used by the AGC. They each spent more than 300 hours in the CM and LM simulators at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and at Houston, some involving live participation by Mission Control. Additional time was spent in simulators in other locations. + +The first mission to use the CSM, the LM and a SaturnV, Apollo9 allowed the launch preparations team at KSC its first opportunity to simulate the launch of a lunar landing mission. The LM arrived from Grumman in June 1968 and was subjected to extensive testing including in the altitude chamber, simulating space conditions. As this occurred, other technicians assembled the SaturnV inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The CM and SM arrived in October, but even the experienced KSC team from North American had trouble joining them together. When the lander was done with the altitude chamber, the CSM took its place, letting the LM be available for installation of equipment such as rendezvous radar and antennas. There were no lengthy delays, and on January 3, 1969, the launch vehicle was taken out of the VAB and moved to Launch Complex 39A by crawler. Flight readiness reviews for the CM, the LM, and the SaturnV were held and passed in the following weeks. + +Hardware + +Launch vehicle +The Saturn V (AS-504) used on Apollo9 was the fourth to be flown, the second to carry astronauts to space, and the first to bear a lunar module. Although similar in configuration to the SaturnV used on Apollo 8, several changes were made. The inner core of the F-1 engine chamber in the first (S-IC) stage was removed, thus saving weight and allowing for a slight increase in specific impulse. Weight was also saved by replacing the skins of the liquid oxygen tanks with lighter ones, and by providing lighter versions of other components. Efficiency was increased in the S-II second stage with uprated J-2 engines, and through a closed-loop propellant utilization system rather than Apollo 8's open-loop system. Of the weight reduction in the second stage, about half came from a 16 percent reduction in the thickness of the tank side walls. + +Spacecraft, equipment and call signs + +Apollo9 used CSM-104, the third Block II CSM to be flown with astronauts aboard. Apollo 8, lacking a lunar module, did not have docking equipment; Apollo9 flew the probe-and-drogue assembly used for docking along with other equipment added near the forward hatch of the CM; this allowed for rigid docking of the two craft, and for internal transfer between CM and LM. Had the switch in missions between Apollo8 and9 not occurred, the Earth-orbit mission would have flown CSM-103, which flew on Apollo 8. + +The Earth-orbit mission was originally supposed to use LM-2 as its lunar module, but the crew found numerous flaws in it, many associated with it being the first flight-ready lunar module off Grumman's production line. The delay occasioned by the switch in missions allowed LM-3 to be available, a machine the crew found far superior. Neither LM-2 nor LM-3 could have been sent to the Moon as both were too heavy; Grumman's weight reduction program for the LMs only became fully effective with LM-5, designated for Apollo 11. Small cracks in LM-3's aluminum alloy structure due to stresses such as the insertion of a rivet proved an ongoing issue; Grumman's engineers continued working to fix them until the LM had to be mounted on the SaturnV in December 1968, where it was housed inside the Spacecraft-Lunar Module Adapter, numbered as SLA-11A. LM-2 never flew in space and is in the National Air and Space Museum. + +The Apollo astronauts were provided with early versions of the Sony Walkman, portable cassette recorders intended to allow them to make observations during the mission. The Apollo9 crew was the first to be allowed to bring music mixtapes, one each, that could be played in that device. McDivitt and Scott preferred easy listening and country music; Schweickart's cassette tape of classical music went missing until the ninth day of the ten-day mission, when it was presented to him by Scott. + +After the Gemini 3 craft was dubbed Molly Brown by Grissom, NASA forbade naming spacecraft. The fact that during the Apollo9 mission, the CSM and LM would separate and need different call signs caused the Apollo9 astronauts to push for a change. In simulations, they began to refer to the CSM as "Gumdrop", a name inspired by the CM's appearance while in the blue protective wrapping in which it was transported from the manufacturer, and the LM as "Spider", inspired by the LM's appearance with landing legs deployed. Personnel in NASA public relations thought the names were too informal, but the call signs ultimately gained official sanction. NASA required more formal call signs for future missions, starting with Apollo 11. + +Life Support System backpack + +The Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) backpack flew for the first time on Apollo9, used by Schweickart during his EVA. This included the Portable Life Support System (PLSS), providing oxygen to the astronaut and water for the Liquid Cooling Garment (LCG), which helped prevent overheating during extravehicular activity. Also present was the Oxygen Purge System (OPS), the "bedroll" atop the backpack, which could provide oxygen for up to roughly an hour if the PLSS failed. A more advanced version of the EMU was used for the lunar landing on Apollo 11. + +During his stand-up EVA, Scott did not wear a PLSS, but was connected to the CM's life support systems through an umbilical, utilizing a Pressure Control Valve (PCV). This device had been created in 1967 to allow for stand-up EVAs from the hatches of the LM or CM, or for brief ventures outside. It was later used by Scott for his lunar surface stand-up EVA on Apollo 15, and for the deep-space EVAs by the command module pilots of the final three Apollo flights. + +Mission highlights + +First through fifth days (March 3–7) + +Originally scheduled to launch on February 28, 1969, the liftoff of Apollo9 was postponed because all three astronauts had colds, and NASA did not want to risk that the mission might be affected. Around-the-clock labor shifts were required to keep the spacecraft in readiness; the delay cost $500,000. The rocket launched from KSC at 11:00:00 EST (16:00:00 GMT) on March 3. This was well within the launch window, which would have remained open for another three and a quarter hours. Present in the firing control room was Vice President Spiro Agnew on behalf of the new Nixon administration. + +McDivitt reported a smooth ride during the launch, although there was some vibration and the astronauts were surprised to be pushed forward when the Saturn V's first stage stopped firing, before its second stage took over, when they were pushed back into their couches. Each of the first two stages slightly underperformed; a deficiency made up, more or less, by the S-IVB third stage. Once the third stage cut out at 00:11:04.7 into the mission, Apollo9 had entered a parking orbit of . + +The crew began their first major orbital task with the separation of the CSM from the S-IVB at 02:41:16 into the mission, seeking to turn around and then dock with the LM, which was on the end of the S-IVB, after which the combined spacecraft would separate from the rocket. If it was not possible to make such a docking, the lunar landing could not take place. It was Scott's responsibility to fly the CSM, which he did to a successful docking, as the probe-and-drogue docking assembly worked properly. After McDivitt and Schweickart inspected the tunnel connecting the CM and LM, the assembled spacecraft separated from the S-IVB. The next task was to demonstrate that two docked spacecraft could be maneuvered by one engine. The five-second burn took place at 05:59.01.1 into the mission, accomplished with the SM's Service Propulsion System (SPS), after which Scott excitedly reported the LM was still in place. Thereafter, the S-IVB was fired again, and the stage was sent into solar orbit. + +From 09:00:00 to 19:30:00, a sleep period was scheduled. The astronauts slept well, but complained of being woken by non-English transmissions. Scott theorized that they were possibly in Chinese. The highlight of the second day in orbit (March 4) was three SPS burns. The initial burn, at 22:12:04.1, lasted 110 seconds, and including swiveling or "gimbaling" the engine to test whether the autopilot could dampen the induced oscillations, which it did within five seconds. Two more SPS burns followed, lightening the SM's fuel load. The spacecraft and engine passed every test, sometimes proving more robust than expected. The performance of the CSM in remaining stable while the engine was being gimbaled would in 1972 help cause McDivitt, by then manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program, to approve the continuation of Apollo 16 when its CSM was experiencing an unstable gimbal after separation from its LM in lunar orbit. + +The flight plan for the third day in space was to have the commander and lunar module pilot enter the LM to check out its systems and use its descent engine to move the entire spacecraft. The descent engine was the backup to the SPS; the ability to use it in this manner would prove critical on Apollo 13. The flight plan was thrown into question when Schweickart, suffering from space adaptation sickness, vomited, while McDivitt felt queasy as well. They had been avoiding sudden physical motions, but the contortion-like maneuvers to don their space suits for the LM checkout caused them to feel ill. The experience would teach the doctors enough about the sickness to have the astronauts avoid it on the lunar landings, but at the time Schweickart feared his vomiting might endanger Kennedy's goal. They were well enough to continue with the day's plan, and entered the LM, thus transferring between vehicles for the first time in the US space program, and making the first ever transfer without needing to spacewalk, as Soviet cosmonauts had. The hatches were then closed, though the modules remained docked, showing that Spider communications and life support systems would work in isolation from those of Gumdrop. On command, the landing legs sprang into the position they would assume for landing on the Moon. + +In the LM, Schweickart vomited again, causing McDivitt to request a private channel to the doctors in Houston. The first episode had not been reported to the ground because of its brief nature, and when the media learned what had happened to Schweickart, there were "repercussions and a spate of unfriendly stories". They finished the LM checkout, including the successful firing of the descent engine, and returned to Scott in Gumdrop. The burn lasted 367 seconds and simulated the throttle pattern to be used during the landing on the Moon. After they returned, a fifth firing of the SPS was made, designed to circularize Apollo9's orbit in preparation for the rendezvous. This took place at 54:26:12.3, raising the craft's orbit to . + +The fourth day's program (March 6) was for Schweickart to exit the hatch on the LM and make his way along the outside of the spacecraft to the CM's hatch, where Scott would stand by to assist, demonstrating that this could be done in the event of an emergency. Schweickart was to wear the life support backpack, or PLSS, to be worn on the lunar surface EVAs. This was the only EVA scheduled before the lunar landing, and thus the only opportunity to test the PLSS in space. McDivitt initially canceled the EVA due to Schweickart's condition, but with the lunar module pilot feeling better, decided to allow him to exit the LM, and once he was there, to move around the LM's exterior using handholds. Scott stood in the CM's hatch; both men photographed each other and retrieved experiments from the exterior of their vehicles. Schweickart found moving around easier than it had been in simulations; both he and Scott were confident that Schweickart could have completed the exterior transfer if called upon to do so, but considered it unnecessary. During the EVA, Schweickart used the call sign "Red Rover", a nod to the color of his hair. + +On March 7, the fifth day, came "the key event of the entire mission: the separation and rendezvous of the lunar module and the command module". The lunar module lacked the capability to return the astronauts to Earth; this was the first time space travelers had flown in a vehicle that could not take them home. McDivitt and Schweickart entered the LM early, having obtained permission to do so without wearing their helmets and gloves, making it easier to set up the LM. When Scott in Gumdrop pushed the button to release the LM, it initially hung on the latches at the end of the docking probe, but he hit the button again and Spider was released. After spending about 45 minutes near Gumdrop, Spider went into a slightly higher orbit, meaning that over time, the two craft would separate, with Gumdrop ahead. Over the next hours, McDivitt fired the LM's descent engine at several throttle settings; by the end of the day the LM was thoroughly test-flown. At a distance of , Spider fired to lower its orbit and thus begin to catch up with Gumdrop, a process that would take over two hours, and the descent stage was jettisoned. + +The approach and rendezvous were conducted as near as possible to what was planned for the lunar missions. To demonstrate that rendezvous could be performed by either craft, Spider was the active party during the maneuver. McDivitt brought Spider close to Gumdrop, then maneuvered the LM to show each side to Scott, allowing him to inspect for any damage. Then, McDivitt docked the craft. Due to glare from the Sun, he had trouble doing this and Scott guided him in. During the later missions, the job of docking the two spacecraft in lunar orbit would fall to the command module pilot. After McDivitt and Schweickart returned to Gumdrop, Spider was jettisoned, its engine fired to fuel depletion remotely by Mission Control as part of further testing of the engine, simulating an ascent stage's climb from the lunar surface. This raised Spider to an orbit with apogee of over . The only major lunar module system not fully tested was the landing radar, as this could not be done in Earth orbit. + +Sixth through eleventh days (March 8–13) + +Apollo 9 was to remain in space for about ten days to check how the CSM would perform over the period of time required for a lunar mission. Most major events had been scheduled for the first days so that they would be accomplished if the flight needed to be ended early. The remaining days in orbit were to be conducted at a more leisurely pace. With the main goals of the mission accomplished, the hatch window was used for special photography of Earth, using four identical Hasselblad cameras, coupled together and using film sensitive to different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Such photography allowed different features of the Earth's surface to appear, for example, tracking of water pollution as it exits mouths of rivers into the sea, and the highlighting of agricultural areas using infrared. The camera system was a prototype, and would pave the way for the Earth Resources Technology Satellite, predecessor to the Landsat series. The photography was successful, as the ample time in orbit meant the crew could wait to allow cloud cover to pass, and would inform Skylab's mission planning. + +Scott used a sextant to track landmarks on the Earth, and turned the instrument to the skies to observe the planet Jupiter, practicing navigation techniques that were to be used on later missions. The crew was able to track the Pegasus 3 satellite (launched in 1965) as well as the ascent stage of Spider. The sixth burn of the SPS engine took place on the sixth day, though it was postponed one orbit as the reaction control system (RCS) thruster burn needed to settle the reactants in their tanks was not properly programmed. The SPS burn lowered the perigee of Apollo9's orbit, allowing for improved RCS thruster deorbit capability as a backup to the SPS. + +Considerable testing of the CSM took place, but this was principally Scott's responsibility, allowing McDivitt and Schweickart leisure to observe the Earth; they alerted Scott if anything particularly noteworthy was upcoming, letting him leave his work for a moment to look at Earth too. The seventh burn of the SPS system took place on the eighth day, March 10; its purpose was again to aid RCS deorbit capability, as well as extending Gumdrop orbital lifetime. It shifted the apogee of the orbit to the Southern Hemisphere, allowing for a longer free-fall time to entry when Apollo9 returned to Earth. The burn was extended to allow for testing of the propellent gaging system, which had been behaving anomalously during earlier SPS burns. Once it was accomplished, Apollo9's RCS thrusters could have returned it to Earth and still allowed it to land in the primary recovery zone had the SPS engine failed. The eighth and final SPS burn, to return the vehicle to Earth, was accomplished on March 13, less than an hour after the ten-day mark of the mission, after which the service module was jettisoned. The landing was delayed one orbit because of unfavorable weather in the primary landing zone some ESE of Bermuda. Instead, Apollo9 splashed down east of the Bahamas, about from the recovery carrier, the USS Guadalcanal, after a mission lasting 10 days, 1hour, 54 seconds. Apollo9 was the last spacecraft to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean for a half century, until the Crew Dragon Demo-1 mission in 2019, and last crewed splashdown in the Atlantic until Inspiration4 in 2021. + +Hardware disposition + +The Apollo9 Command Module Gumdrop (1969-018A) is on display at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Gumdrop was formerly displayed at the Michigan Space and Science Center, Jackson, Michigan, until April 2004, when the center closed. The service module, jettisoned shortly after the deorbit burn, reentered the atmosphere and disintegrated. + +The ascent stage of LM-3 Spider (1969-018C) reentered on October 23, 1981. The descent stage of LM-3 Spider (1969-018D) reentered on March 22, 1969, landing in the Indian Ocean near North Africa. +The S-IVB (1969-018B) was sent into solar orbit, with initial aphelion of , perihelion of and orbital period of 245 days. It remains in solar orbit . + +Appraisal and aftermath +As NASA Associate Administrator George Mueller put it, "Apollo9 was as successful a flight as any of us could ever wish for, as well as being as successful as any of us have ever seen." Gene Kranz called Apollo9 "sheer exhilaration". Apollo Program Director Samuel C. Phillips stated, "in every way, it has exceeded even our most optimistic expectations." Apollo11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stood in Mission Control as Spider and Gumdrop docked after their separate flights, and with the docking, according to Andrew Chaikin, "Apollo9 had fulfilled all its major objectives. At that moment, Aldrin knew Apollo10 would also succeed, and that he and Armstrong would attempt to land on the Moon. On March 24, NASA made it official." + +Although he might have been offered command of an Apollo lunar landing mission, McDivitt chose to leave the Astronaut Corps after Apollo9, becoming manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program later in 1969. Scott was soon given another spaceflight assignment as backup commander of Apollo 12, and then was made mission commander of Apollo 15, landing on the Moon in 1971. Schweickart volunteered for medical investigation of his spacesickness, but was unable to shake its stigma, and was never again assigned to a prime crew. He took a leave of absence from NASA in 1977 that eventually became permanent. Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, stated that when it came to understanding spacesickness, Schweickart "paid the price for them all". + +Following the success of Apollo 9, NASA did not conduct the "E mission" (further testing in medium Earth orbit), and even considered skipping the "F mission", the dress rehearsal for the lunar landing, going straight to the landing attempt. As the spacecraft designated for the first landing attempt were still being assembled, this was not done. NASA officials also felt that given the past difficulties with the LM, there was a need for a further test flight before the actual landing attempt, and that orbiting the Moon would give them the opportunity to study mass concentrations there, which had affected Apollo8's orbit. According to French and Burgess in their study of the Apollo Program, "In any event,... Apollo9's success had ensured that the next Apollo mission would go back to the moon." + +See also + List of spacewalks and moonwalks 1965–1999 + +Notes + +References + +Bibliography + +External links + +NASA reports + "Apollo 9 flight plan AS-504/CSM-104/LM-3 Final Report" (PDF) by J. V. Rivers, NASA, February 1969 + "Apollo Program Summary Report" (PDF), NASA, JSC-09423, April 1975 + +Multimedia + Apollo 9: Three To Make Ready Official NASA documentary film (1969) + Apollo 9 16mm onboard film part 1, part 2 raw footage taken from Apollo 9 + Apollo 9: The Space Duet of Spider & Gumdrop Official NASA documentary film (1969), + Apollo 9 images at NASA'S Kennedy Space Center + + +Extravehicular activity +Human spaceflights +Apollo 09 +1969 in the United States +Spacecraft launched in 1969 +Spacecraft which reentered in 1969 +March 1969 events +Spacecraft launched by Saturn rockets +James McDivitt +David Scott +Rusty Schweickart +Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In some types of arthritis, other organs are also affected. Onset can be gradual or sudden. + +There are over 100 types of arthritis. The most common forms are osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease) and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis usually occurs with age and affects the fingers, knees, and hips. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder that often affects the hands and feet. Other types include gout, lupus, fibromyalgia, and septic arthritis. They are all types of rheumatic disease. + +Treatment may include resting the joint and alternating between applying ice and heat. Weight loss and exercise may also be useful. Recommended medications may depend on the form of arthritis. These may include pain medications such as ibuprofen and paracetamol (acetaminophen). In some circumstances, a joint replacement may be useful. + +Osteoarthritis affects more than 3.8% of people, while rheumatoid arthritis affects about 0.24% of people. Gout affects about 1–2% of the Western population at some point in their lives. In Australia about 15% of people are affected by arthritis, while in the United States more than 20% have a type of arthritis. Overall the disease becomes more common with age. Arthritis is a common reason that people miss work and can result in a decreased quality of life. The term is derived from arthr- (meaning 'joint') and -itis (meaning 'inflammation'). + +Classification +There are several diseases where joint pain is primary, and is considered the main feature. Generally when a person has "arthritis" it means that they have one of these diseases, which include: + Hemarthrosis + Osteoarthritis + Rheumatoid arthritis + Gout and pseudo-gout + Septic arthritis + Ankylosing spondylitis + Juvenile idiopathic arthritis + Still's disease + Psoriatic arthritis + +Joint pain can also be a symptom of other diseases. In this case, the arthritis is considered to be secondary to the main disease; these include: + Psoriasis + Reactive arthritis + Ehlers–Danlos syndrome + Iron overload + Hepatitis + Lyme disease + Sjögren's disease + Hashimoto's thyroiditis + Celiac disease + Non-celiac gluten sensitivity + Inflammatory bowel disease (including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis) + Henoch–Schönlein purpura + Hyperimmunoglobulinemia D with recurrent fever + Sarcoidosis + Whipple's disease + TNF receptor associated periodic syndrome + Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (and many other vasculitis syndromes) + Familial Mediterranean fever + Systemic lupus erythematosus + +An undifferentiated arthritis is an arthritis that does not fit into well-known clinical disease categories, possibly being an early stage of a definite rheumatic disease. + +Signs and symptoms + +Pain, which can vary in severity, is a common symptom in virtually all types of arthritis. Other symptoms include swelling, joint stiffness, redness, and aching around the joint(s). Arthritic disorders like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis can affect other organs in the body, leading to a variety of symptoms. Symptoms may include: + Inability to use the hand or walk + Stiffness in one or more joints + Rash or itch + Malaise and fatigue + Weight loss + Poor sleep + Muscle aches and pains + Tenderness + Difficulty moving the joint + +It is common in advanced arthritis for significant secondary changes to occur. For example, arthritic symptoms might make it difficult for a person to move around and/or exercise, which can lead to secondary effects, such as: + + Muscle weakness + Loss of flexibility + Decreased aerobic fitness +These changes, in addition to the primary symptoms, can have a huge impact on quality of life. + +Disability + +Arthritis is the most common cause of disability in the United States. More than 20 million individuals with arthritis have severe limitations in function on a daily basis. Absenteeism and frequent visits to the physician are common in individuals who have arthritis. Arthritis can make it difficult for individuals to be physically active and some become home bound. +It is estimated that the total cost of arthritis cases is close to $100 billion of which almost 50% is from lost earnings. Each year, arthritis results in nearly 1 million hospitalizations and close to 45 million outpatient visits to health care centers. + +Decreased mobility, in combination with the above symptoms, can make it difficult for an individual to remain physically active, contributing to an increased risk of obesity, high cholesterol or vulnerability to heart disease. People with arthritis are also at increased risk of depression, which may be a response to numerous factors, including fear of worsening symptoms. + +Risk factors +There are common risk factors that increase a person's chance of developing arthritis later in adulthood. Some of these are modifiable while others are not. Smoking has been linked to an increased susceptibility of developing arthritis, particularly rheumatoid arthritis. + +Diagnosis + +Diagnosis is made by clinical examination from an appropriate health professional, and may be supported by other tests such as radiology and blood tests, depending on the type of suspected arthritis. All arthritides potentially feature pain. Pain patterns may differ depending on the arthritides and the location. Rheumatoid arthritis is generally worse in the morning and associated with stiffness lasting over 30 minutes. However, in the early stages, patients may have no symptoms after a warm shower. Osteoarthritis, on the other hand, tends to be associated with morning stiffness which eases relatively quickly with movement and exercise. In the aged and children, pain might not be the main presenting feature; the aged patient simply moves less, the infantile patient refuses to use the affected limb. + +Elements of the history of the disorder guide diagnosis. Important features are speed and time of onset, pattern of joint involvement, symmetry of symptoms, early morning stiffness, tenderness, gelling or locking with inactivity, aggravating and relieving factors, and other systemic symptoms. It may include checking joints, observing movements, examination of skin for rashes or nodules and symptoms of pulmonary inflammation. Physical examination may confirm the diagnosis or may indicate systemic disease. Radiographs are often used to follow progression or help assess severity. + +Blood tests and X-rays of the affected joints often are performed to make the diagnosis. Screening blood tests are indicated if certain arthritides are suspected. These might include: rheumatoid factor, antinuclear factor (ANF), extractable nuclear antigen, and specific antibodies. +Rheumatoid arthritis patients often have high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR, also known as sed rate) or C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, which indicates the presence of an inflammatory process in the body. Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies and rheumatoid factor (RF) are two more common blood tests. Positive results indicate the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, while negative results help rule out this autoimmune condition. + +Imaging tests like X-rays, MRI scans or Ultrasounds used to diagnose and monitor arthritis. Other imaging tests for rheumatoid arthritis that may be considered include computed tomography (CT) scanning, positron emission tomography (PET) scanning, bone scanning, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). + +Osteoarthritis + +Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. It affects humans and other animals, notably dogs, but also occurs in cats and horses. It can affect both the larger and the smaller joints of the body. In humans, this includes the hands, wrists, feet, back, hip, and knee. In dogs, this includes the elbow, hip, stifle (knee), shoulder, and back. The disease is essentially one acquired from daily wear and tear of the joint; however, osteoarthritis can also occur as a result of injury. Osteoarthritis begins in the cartilage and eventually causes the two opposing bones to erode into each other. The condition starts with minor pain during physical activity, but soon the pain can be continuous and even occur while in a state of rest. The pain can be debilitating and prevent one from doing some activities. In dogs, this pain can significantly affect quality of life and may include difficulty going up and down stairs, struggling to get up after lying down, trouble walking on slick floors, being unable to hop in and out of vehicles, difficulty jumping on and off furniture, and behavioral changes (e.g., aggression, difficulty squatting to toilet). Osteoarthritis typically affects the weight-bearing joints, such as the back, knee and hip. Unlike rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis is most commonly a disease of the elderly. The strongest predictor of osteoarthritis is increased age, likely due to the declining ability of chondrocytes to maintain the structural integrity of cartilage. More than 30 percent of women have some degree of osteoarthritis by age 65. Other risk factors for osteoarthritis include prior joint trauma, obesity, and a sedentary lifestyle. + +Rheumatoid arthritis + +Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a disorder in which the body's own immune system starts to attack body tissues. The attack is not only directed at the joint but to many other parts of the body. In rheumatoid arthritis, most damage occurs to the joint lining and cartilage which eventually results in erosion of two opposing bones. RA often affects joints in the fingers, wrists, knees and elbows, is symmetrical (appears on both sides of the body), and can lead to severe deformity in a few years if not treated. RA occurs mostly in people aged 20 and above. In children, the disorder can present with a skin rash, fever, pain, disability, and limitations in daily activities. With earlier diagnosis and aggressive treatment, many individuals can lead a better quality of life than if going undiagnosed for long after RA's onset. The risk factors with the strongest association for developing rheumatoid arthritis are the female sex, a family history of rheumatoid arthritis, age, obesity, previous joint damage from an injury, and exposure to tobacco smoke. + +Bone erosion is a central feature of rheumatoid arthritis. Bone continuously undergoes remodeling by actions of bone resorbing osteoclasts and bone forming osteoblasts. One of the main triggers of bone erosion in the joints in rheumatoid arthritis is inflammation of the synovium, caused in part by the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL), a cell surface protein present in Th17 cells and osteoblasts. Osteoclast activity can be directly induced by osteoblasts through the RANK/RANKL mechanism. + +Lupus + +Lupus is a common collagen vascular disorder that can be present with severe arthritis. Other features of lupus include a skin rash, extreme photosensitivity, hair loss, kidney problems, lung fibrosis and constant joint pain. + +Gout + +Gout is caused by deposition of uric acid crystals in the joints, causing inflammation. There is also an uncommon form of gouty arthritis caused by the formation of rhomboid crystals of calcium pyrophosphate known as pseudogout. In the early stages, the gouty arthritis usually occurs in one joint, but with time, it can occur in many joints and be quite crippling. The joints in gout can often become swollen and lose function. Gouty arthritis can become particularly painful and potentially debilitating when gout cannot successfully be treated. When uric acid levels and gout symptoms cannot be controlled with standard gout medicines that decrease the production of uric acid (e.g., allopurinol) or increase uric acid elimination from the body through the kidneys (e.g., probenecid), this can be referred to as refractory chronic gout. + +Comparison of types + +Other +Infectious arthritis is another severe form of arthritis. It presents with sudden onset of chills, fever and joint pain. The condition is caused by bacteria elsewhere in the body. Infectious arthritis must be rapidly diagnosed and treated promptly to prevent irreversible joint damage. + +Psoriasis can develop into psoriatic arthritis. With psoriatic arthritis, most individuals develop the skin problem first and then the arthritis. The typical features are continuous joint pains, stiffness and swelling. The disease does recur with periods of remission but there is no cure for the disorder. A small percentage develop a severely painful and destructive form of arthritis which destroys the small joints in the hands and can lead to permanent disability and loss of hand function. + +Treatment +There is no known cure for arthritis and rheumatic diseases. Treatment options vary depending on the type of arthritis and include physical therapy, exercise and diet, orthopedic bracing, and oral and topical medications. Joint replacement surgery may be required to repair damage, restore function, or relieve pain. + +Physical therapy +In general, studies have shown that physical exercise of the affected joint can noticeably improve long-term pain relief. Furthermore, exercise of the arthritic joint is encouraged to maintain the health of the particular joint and the overall body of the person. + +Individuals with arthritis can benefit from both physical and occupational therapy. In arthritis the joints become stiff and the range of movement can be limited. Physical therapy has been shown to significantly improve function, decrease pain, and delay the need for surgical intervention in advanced cases. Exercise prescribed by a physical therapist has been shown to be more effective than medications in treating osteoarthritis of the knee. Exercise often focuses on improving muscle strength, endurance and flexibility. In some cases, exercises may be designed to train balance. Occupational therapy can provide assistance with activities. Assistive technology is a tool used to aid a person's disability by reducing their physical barriers by improving the use of their damaged body part, typically after an amputation. Assistive technology devices can be customized to the patient or bought commercially. + +Medications +There are several types of medications that are used for the treatment of arthritis. Treatment typically begins with medications that have the fewest side effects with further medications being added if insufficiently effective. + +Depending on the type of arthritis, the medications that are given may be different. For example, the first-line treatment for osteoarthritis is acetaminophen (paracetamol) while for inflammatory arthritis it involves non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen. Opioids and NSAIDs may be less well tolerated. However, topical NSAIDs may have better safety profiles than oral NSAIDs. For more severe cases of osteoarthritis, intra-articular corticosteroid injections may also be considered. + +The drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) range from corticosteroids to monoclonal antibodies given intravenously. Due to the autoimmune nature of RA, treatments may include not only pain medications and anti-inflammatory drugs, but also another category of drugs called disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). csDMARDs, TNF biologics and tsDMARDs are specific kinds of DMARDs that are recommended for treatment. Treatment with DMARDs is designed to slow down the progression of RA by initiating an adaptive immune response, in part by CD4+ T helper (Th) cells, specifically Th17 cells. Th17 cells are present in higher quantities at the site of bone destruction in joints and produce inflammatory cytokines associated with inflammation, such as interleukin-17 (IL-17). + +Surgery +A number of rheumasurgical interventions have been incorporated in the treatment of arthritis since the 1950s. Arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee provides no additional benefit to optimized physical and medical therapy. + +Adaptive aids +People with hand arthritis can have trouble with simple activities of daily living tasks (ADLs), such as turning a key in a lock or opening jars, as these activities can be cumbersome and painful. There are adaptive aids or assistive devices (ADs) available to help with these tasks, but they are generally more costly than conventional products with the same function. It is now possible to 3-D print adaptive aids, which have been released as open source hardware to reduce patient costs. Adaptive aids can significantly help arthritis patients and the vast majority of those with arthritis need and use them. + +Alternative medicine +Further research is required to determine if transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for knee osteoarthritis is effective for controlling pain. + +Low level laser therapy may be considered for relief of pain and stiffness associated with arthritis. Evidence of benefit is tentative. + +Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (PEMFT) has tentative evidence supporting improved functioning but no evidence of improved pain in osteoarthritis. The FDA has not approved PEMFT for the treatment of arthritis. In Canada, PEMF devices are legally licensed by Health Canada for the treatment of pain associated with arthritic conditions. + +Epidemiology +Arthritis is predominantly a disease of the elderly, but children can also be affected by the disease. Arthritis is more common in women than men at all ages and affects all races, ethnic groups and cultures. In the United States a CDC survey based on data from 2013 to 2015 showed 54.4 million (22.7%) adults had self-reported doctor-diagnosed arthritis, and 23.7 million (43.5% of those with arthritis) had arthritis-attributable activity limitation (AAAL). With an aging population, this number is expected to increase. Adults with co-morbid conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, were seen to have a higher than average prevalence of doctor-diagnosed arthritis (49.3%, 47.1%, and 30.6% respectively). + +Disability due to musculoskeletal disorders increased by 45% from 1990 to 2010. Of these, osteoarthritis is the fastest increasing major health condition. Among the many reports on the increased prevalence of musculoskeletal conditions, data from Africa are lacking and underestimated. A systematic review assessed the prevalence of arthritis in Africa and included twenty population-based and seven hospital-based studies. The majority of studies, twelve, were from South Africa. Nine studies were well-conducted, eleven studies were of moderate quality, and seven studies were conducted poorly. The results of the systematic review were as follows: + Rheumatoid arthritis: 0.1% in Algeria (urban setting); 0.6% in Democratic Republic of Congo (urban setting); 2.5% and 0.07% in urban and rural settings in South Africa respectively; 0.3% in Egypt (rural setting), 0.4% in Lesotho (rural setting) + Osteoarthritis: 55.1% in South Africa (urban setting); ranged from 29.5 to 82.7% in South Africans aged 65 years and older + Knee osteoarthritis has the highest prevalence from all types of osteoarthritis, with 33.1% in rural South Africa + Ankylosing spondylitis: 0.1% in South Africa (rural setting) + Psoriatic arthritis: 4.4% in South Africa (urban setting) + Gout: 0.7% in South Africa (urban setting) + Juvenile idiopathic arthritis: 0.3% in Egypt (urban setting) + +History +Evidence of osteoarthritis and potentially inflammatory arthritis has been discovered in dinosaurs. The first known traces of human arthritis date back as far as 4500 BC. In early reports, arthritis was frequently referred to as the most common ailment of prehistoric peoples. It was noted in skeletal remains of Native Americans found in Tennessee and parts of what is now Olathe, Kansas. Evidence of arthritis has been found throughout history, from Ötzi, a mummy () found along the border of modern Italy and Austria, to the Egyptian mummies . + +In 1715, William Musgrave published the second edition of his most important medical work, De arthritide symptomatica, which concerned arthritis and its effects. Augustin Jacob Landré-Beauvais, a 28-year-old resident physician at Salpêtrière Asylum in France was the first person to describe the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Though Landré-Beauvais' classification of rheumatoid arthritis as a relative of gout was inaccurate, his dissertation encouraged others to further study the disease. + +Terminology +The term is derived from arthr- (from ) and -itis (from , , ), the latter suffix having come to be associated with inflammation. + +The word arthritides is the plural form of arthritis, and denotes the collective group of arthritis-like conditions. + +See also + Antiarthritics + Arthritis Care (charity in the UK) + Arthritis Foundation (US not-for-profit) + Knee arthritis + Osteoimmunology + Weather pains + +References + +External links + + American College of Rheumatology – US professional society of rheumatologists + National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases - US National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases + + +Aging-associated diseases +Inflammations +Rheumatology +Wikipedia neurology articles ready to translate +Skeletal disorders +Wikipedia medicine articles ready to translate + + +Events + +Pre-1600 +1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Johns River. + +1601–1900 +1755 – Commodore William James captures the Maratha fortress of Suvarnadurg on the west coast of India. +1792 – The Coinage Act is passed by Congress, establishing the United States Mint. +1800 – Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna. +1801 – French Revolutionary Wars: In the Battle of Copenhagen a British Royal Navy squadron defeats a hastily assembled, smaller, mostly-volunteer Dano-Norwegian Navy at high cost, forcing Denmark out of the Second League of Armed Neutrality. +1863 – American Civil War: The largest in a series of Southern bread riots occurs in Richmond, Virginia. +1865 – American Civil War: Defeat at the Third Battle of Petersburg forces the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate government to abandon Richmond, Virginia. +1885 – Canadian Cree warriors attack the village of Frog Lake, killing nine. + +1901–present +1902 – Dmitry Sipyagin, Minister of Interior of the Russian Empire, is assassinated in the Mariinsky Palace, Saint Petersburg. + 1902 – "Electric Theatre", the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles. +1911 – The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts the country's first national census. +1912 – The ill-fated begins sea trials. +1917 – American entry into World War I: President Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany. +1921 – The Autonomous Government of Khorasan, a military government encompassing the modern state of Iran, is established. +1930 – After the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia. +1954 – A 19-month-old infant is swept up in the ocean tides at Hermosa Beach, California. Local photographer John L. Gaunt photographs the incident; 1955 Pulitzer winner "Tragedy by the Sea". +1956 – As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format. +1964 – The Soviet Union launches Zond 1. +1969 – LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 crashes into the Polica mountain near Zawoja, Poland, killing 53. +1972 – Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s. +1973 – Launch of the LexisNexis computerized legal research service. +1975 – Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from Quảng Ngãi Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops. +1976 – Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigns as leader of Cambodia and is placed under house arrest. +1979 – A Soviet bio-warfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of livestock. +1980 – United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act. +1982 – Falklands War: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands. +1986 – Alabama governor George Wallace, a former segregationist, best known for the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door", announces that he will not seek a fifth four-year term and will retire from public life upon the end of his term in January 1987. +1989 – Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba, to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations. +1991 – Rita Johnston becomes the first female Premier of a Canadian province when she succeeds William Vander Zalm (who had resigned) as Premier of British Columbia. +1992 – In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison. + 1992 – Forty-two civilians are massacred in the town of Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. +2002 – Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, into which armed Palestinians had retreated. +2004 – Islamist terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks attempt to bomb the Spanish high-speed train AVE near Madrid; the attack is thwarted. +2006 – Over 60 tornadoes break out in the United States; Tennessee is hardest hit with 29 people killed. +2012 – A mass shooting at Oikos University in California leaves seven people dead and three injured. +2014 – A spree shooting occurs at the Fort Hood army base in Texas, with four dead, including the gunman, and 16 others injured. +2015 – Gunmen attack Garissa University College in Kenya, killing at least 148 people and wounding 79 others. + 2015 – Four men steal items worth up to £200 million from an underground safe deposit facility in London's Hatton Garden area in what has been called the "largest burglary in English legal history." +2020 – COVID-19 pandemic: The total number of confirmed cases reach one million. +2021 – At least 49 people are killed in a train derailment in Taiwan after a truck accidentally rolls onto the track. + 2021 – A Capitol Police officer is killed and another injured when an attacker rams his car into a barricade outside the United States Capitol. + +Births + +Pre-1600 +181 – Emperor Xian of Han, Chinese emperor (d. 234) +747 – Charlemagne, Frankish king (d. 814) +1473 – John Corvinus, Hungarian noble (d. 1504) +1545 – Elisabeth of Valois (d. 1568) +1565 – Cornelis de Houtman, Dutch explorer (d. 1599) +1586 – Pietro Della Valle, Italian traveler (d. 1652) + +1601–1900 +1602 – Mary of Jesus of Ágreda, Franciscan abbess (d. 1665) +1618 – Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist (d. 1663) +1647 – Maria Sibylla Merian, German-Dutch botanist and illustrator (d. 1717) +1653 – Prince George of Denmark (d. 1708) +1696 – Francesca Cuzzoni, Italian operatic soprano (d. 1778) +1719 – Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet (d. 1803) +1725 – Giacomo Casanova, Italian explorer and author (d. 1798) +1755 – Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, French lawyer and politician (d. 1826) +1788 – Francisco Balagtas, Filipino poet and author (d. 1862) + 1788 – Wilhelmine Reichard, German balloonist (d. 1848) +1789 – Lucio Norberto Mansilla, Argentinian general and politician (d. 1871) +1792 – Francisco de Paula Santander, Colombian general and politician, 4th President of the Republic of the New Granada (d. 1840) +1798 – August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, German poet and academic (d. 1874) +1805 – Hans Christian Andersen, Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1875) +1814 – Henry L. Benning, American general and judge (d. 1875) + 1814 – Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American inventor (d. 1879) +1827 – William Holman Hunt, English soldier and painter (d. 1910) +1835 – Jacob Nash Victor, American engineer (d. 1907) +1838 – Léon Gambetta, French lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of France (d. 1882) +1840 – Émile Zola, French novelist, playwright, journalist (d. 1902) +1841 – Clément Ader, French engineer, designed the Ader Avion III (d. 1926) +1842 – Dominic Savio, Italian Catholic saint, adolescent student of Saint John Bosco (d. 1857) +1861 – Iván Persa, Slovenian priest and author (d. 1935) +1862 – Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947) +1869 – Hughie Jennings, American baseball player and manager (d. 1928) +1870 – Edmund Dwyer-Gray, Irish-Australian politician, 29th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1945) +1875 – Walter Chrysler, American businessman, founded Chrysler (d. 1940) + 1875 – William Donne, English cricketer and captain (d. 1942) +1884 – J. C. Squire, English poet, author, and historian (d. 1958) +1888 – Neville Cardus, English cricket and music writer (d. 1975) +1891 – Jack Buchanan, Scottish entertainer (d. 1957) + 1891 – Max Ernst, German painter, sculptor, and poet (d. 1976) + 1891 – Tristão de Bragança Cunha, Indian nationalist and anti-colonial activist from Goa (d. 1958) +1896 – Johnny Golden, American golfer (d. 1936) +1898 – Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Indian poet, actor and politician (d. 1990) + 1898 – Chiungtze C. Tsen, Chinese mathematician (d. 1940) +1900 – Roberto Arlt, Argentinian journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1942) + 1900 – Anis Fuleihan, Cypriot-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1970) + 1900 – Alfred Strange, English footballer (d. 1978) + +1901–present +1902 – Jan Tschichold, German-Swiss graphic designer and typographer (d. 1974) + 1902 – Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe (d. 1994) +1903 – Lionel Chevrier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Justice (d. 1987) +1906 – Alphonse-Marie Parent, Canadian priest and educator (d. 1970) +1907 – Harald Andersson, American-Swedish discus thrower (d. 1985) + 1907 – Luke Appling, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991) +1908 – Buddy Ebsen, American actor and dancer (d. 2003) +1910 – Paul Triquet, Canadian general, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1980) + 1910 – Chico Xavier, Brazilian spiritual medium (d. 2002) +1914 – Alec Guinness, English actor (d. 2000) +1919 – Delfo Cabrera, Argentinian runner and soldier (d. 1981) +1920 – Gerald Bouey, Canadian lieutenant and civil servant (d. 2004) + 1920 – Jack Stokes, English animator and director (d. 2013) + 1920 – Jack Webb, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1982) +1922 – John C. Whitehead, American banker and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of State (d. 2015) +1923 – Gloria Henry, actress (d. 2021) + 1923 – Johnny Paton, Scottish footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2015) + 1923 – G. Spencer-Brown, English mathematician, psychologist, and author (d. 2016) +1924 – Bobby Ávila, Mexican baseball player (d. 2004) +1925 – George MacDonald Fraser, Scottish author and screenwriter (d. 2008) + 1925 – Hans Rosenthal, German radio and television host (d. 1987) +1926 – Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver (d. 2014) + 1926 – Rudra Rajasingham, Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat (d. 2006) +1927 – Carmen Basilio, American boxer and soldier (d. 2012) + 1927 – Howard Callaway, American soldier and politician, 11th United States Secretary of the Army (d. 2014) + 1927 – Rita Gam, American actress (d. 2016) + 1927 – Billy Pierce, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2015) + 1927 – Kenneth Tynan, English author and critic (d. 1980) +1928 – Joseph Bernardin, American cardinal (d. 1996) + 1928 – Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director (d. 1991) + 1928 – Roy Masters, English-American radio host (d. 2021) + 1928 – David Robinson, Northern Irish horticulturist and academic (d. 2004) +1929 – Ed Dorn, American poet and educator (d. 1999) +1930 – Roddy Maude-Roxby, English actor +1931 – Keith Hitchins, American historian (d. 2020) + 1931 – Vladimir Kuznetsov, Russian javelin thrower (d. 1986) +1932 – Edward Egan, American cardinal (d. 2015) +1933 – György Konrád, Hungarian sociologist and author (d. 2019) +1934 – Paul Cohen, American mathematician and theorist (d. 2007) + 1934 – Brian Glover, English wrestler and actor (d. 1997) + 1934 – Carl Kasell, American journalist and game show host (d. 2018) + 1934 – Richard Portman, American sound engineer (d. 2017) + 1934 – Dovid Shmidel, Austrian-born Israeli rabbi +1936 – Shaul Ladany, Serbian-Israeli race walker and engineer +1937 – Dick Radatz, American baseball player (d. 2005) +1938 – John Larsson, Swedish 17th General of The Salvation Army + 1938 – Booker Little, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1961) + 1938 – Al Weis, American baseball player +1939 – Marvin Gaye, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984) + 1939 – Anthony Lake, American academic and diplomat, 18th United States National Security Advisor + 1939 – Lise Thibault, Canadian journalist and politician, 27th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec +1940 – Donald Jackson, Canadian figure skater and coach + 1940 – Mike Hailwood, English motorcycle racer (d. 1981) + 1940 – Penelope Keith, English actress +1941 – Dr. Demento, American radio host + 1941 – Sonny Throckmorton, American country singer-songwriter +1942 – Leon Russell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2016) + 1942 – Roshan Seth, Indian-English actor +1943 – Michael Boyce, Baron Boyce, South African-English admiral and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (d. 2022) + 1943 – Caterina Bueno, Italian singer (d. 2007) + 1943 – Larry Coryell, American jazz guitarist (d. 2017) + 1943 – Antonio Sabàto, Sr., Italian actor (d. 2021) +1944 – Bill Malinchak, American football player +1945 – Jürgen Drews, German singer-songwriter + 1945 – Guy Fréquelin, French race car driver + 1945 – Linda Hunt, American actress + 1945 – Reggie Smith, American baseball player and coach + 1945 – Don Sutton, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2021) + 1945 – Anne Waldman, American poet +1946 – Richard Collinge, New Zealand cricketer + 1946 – David Heyes, English politician + 1946 – Sue Townsend, English author and playwright (d. 2014) + 1946 – Kurt Winter, Canadian guitarist and songwriter (d. 1997) +1947 – Paquita la del Barrio, Mexican singer-songwriter + 1947 – Tua Forsström, Finnish writer + 1947 – Emmylou Harris, American singer-songwriter and guitarist + 1947 – Camille Paglia, American author and critic +1948 – Roald Als, Danish author and illustrator + 1948 – Dimitris Mitropanos, Greek singer (d. 2012) + 1948 – Daniel Okrent, American journalist and author + 1948 – Joan D. Vinge, American author +1949 – Paul Gambaccini, American-English radio and television host + 1949 – Bernd Müller, German footballer + 1949 – Pamela Reed, American actress + 1949 – David Robinson, American drummer +1950 – Lynn Westmoreland, American politician +1951 – Ayako Okamoto, Japanese golfer +1952 – Lennart Fagerlund, Swedish cyclist + 1952 – Will Hoy, English race car driver (d. 2002) + 1952 – Leon Wilkeson, American bass player and songwriter (d. 2001) +1953 – Jim Allister, Northern Irish lawyer and politician + 1953 – Rosemary Bryant Mariner, 20th and 21st-century U.S. Navy aviator (d. 2019) + 1953 – Malika Oufkir, Moroccan Berber writer + 1953 – Debralee Scott, American actress (d. 2005) + 1953 – James Vance, American author and playwright (d. 2017) +1954 – Gregory Abbott, American singer-songwriter and producer + 1954 – Donald Petrie, American actor and director +1955 – Michael Stone, Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary +1957 – Caroline Dean, English biologist and academic 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player +2007 – Brenda Fruhvirtová, Czech tennis player + +Deaths + +Pre-1600 + 670 – Hasan ibn Ali the second Shia Imam (b. 624) + 870 – Æbbe the Younger, Frankish abbess + 872 – Muflih al-Turki, Turkish general + 968 – Yuan Dezhao, Chinese chancellor (b. 891) + 991 – Bardas Skleros, Byzantine general +1118 – Baldwin I, king of Jerusalem +1244 – Henrik Harpestræng, Danish botanical and medical author +1272 – Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English husband of Sanchia of Provence (b. 1209) +1335 – Henry of Bohemia (b. 1265) +1412 – Ruy González de Clavijo, Spanish explorer and author +1416 – Ferdinand I, king of Aragon (b. 1379) +1502 – Arthur, prince of Wales (b. 1486) +1507 – Francis of Paola, Italian friar and saint, founded the Order of the Minims (b. 1416) +1511 – Bernard VII, Lord of Lippe, German nobleman (b. 1428) + +1601–1900 +1640 – Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Polish author and poet (b. 1595) +1657 – Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1608) + 1657 – Jean-Jacques Olier, 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Forester, English novelist (b. 1899) +1972 – Franz Halder, German general (b. 1884) + 1972 – Toshitsugu Takamatsu, Japanese martial artist and educator (b. 1887) +1974 – Georges Pompidou, French banker and politician, 19th President of France (b. 1911) +1977 – Walter Wolf, German academic and politician (b. 1907) +1987 – Buddy Rich, American drummer, songwriter, and bandleader (b. 1917) +1989 – Manolis Angelopoulos, Greek singer (b. 1939) +1992 – Juanito, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1954) + 1992 – Jan van Aartsen, Dutch politician (b. 1909) +1994 – Betty Furness, American actress, consumer advocate, game show panelist, television journalist and television personality (b. 1916) + 1994 – Marc Fitch, British historian and philanthropist (b. 1908) +1995 – Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908) +1997 – Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese director and producer (b. 1910) +1998 – Rob Pilatus, American-German singer-songwriter (b. 1965) +2001 – Charles Daudelin, Canadian sculptor and painter (b. 1920) +2002 – Levi Celerio, Filipino composer and songwriter (b. 1910) + 2002 – John R. 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It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in its pure form and thus is usually handled as a solution. Pure acetylene is odorless, but commercial grades usually have a marked odor due to impurities such as divinyl sulfide and phosphine. + +As an alkyne, acetylene is unsaturated because its two carbon atoms are bonded together in a triple bond. The carbon–carbon triple bond places all four atoms in the same straight line, with CCH bond angles of 180°. + +Discovery +Acetylene was discovered in 1836 by Edmund Davy, who identified it as a "new carburet of hydrogen". It was an accidental discovery while attempting to isolate potassium metal. By heating potassium carbonate with carbon at very high temperatures, he produced a residue of what is now known as potassium carbide, (K2C2), which reacted with water to release the new gas. It was rediscovered in 1860 by French chemist Marcellin Berthelot, who coined the name acétylène. Berthelot's empirical formula for acetylene (C4H2), as well as the alternative name "quadricarbure d'hydrogène" (hydrogen quadricarbide), were incorrect because many chemists at that time used the wrong atomic mass for carbon (6 instead of 12). Berthelot was able to prepare this gas by passing vapours of organic compounds (methanol, ethanol, etc.) through a red hot tube and collecting the effluent. He also found that acetylene was formed by sparking electricity through mixed cyanogen and hydrogen gases. Berthelot later obtained acetylene directly by passing hydrogen between the poles of a carbon arc. + +Preparation +Except for China acetylene production is dominated by partial combustion of natural gas. + +Partial combustion of hydrocarbons +Since the 1950s, acetylene has mainly been manufactured by the partial combustion of methane. It is a recovered side product in production of ethylene by cracking of hydrocarbons. Approximately 400,000 tonnes were produced by this method in 1983. Its presence in ethylene is usually undesirable because of its explosive character and its ability to poison Ziegler–Natta catalysts. It is selectively hydrogenated into ethylene, usually using Pd–Ag catalysts. + +3 CH4 + 3 O2 → C2H2 + CO + 5 H2O. + +Partial combustion of methane also produces acetylene: + +Dehydrogenation of alkanes +The heaviest alkanes in petroleum and natural gas are cracked into lighter molecules which are dehydrogenated at high temperature: + + C2H6 → C2H2 + 2 H2 + 2 CH4→ C2H2+ 3 H2 + +This last reaction is implemented in the process of anaerobic decomposition of methane by microwave plasma. The advantage of this technology is the absence of CO2 emissions and the joint production of hydrogen as a secondary product. It makes it a low-carbon technology production and also an electrified process. For 32 t of methane transformed, production of 26 t of acetylene and 6 t of hydrogen (according to stoichiometry). + +Carbochemical method +The production of acetylene from calcium carbide is a traditional and still the dominant route: + +The conditions for production of calcium carbide are environmentally unacceptable in most advanced countries, except China. + +Until the 1950s, when oil supplanted coal as the chief source of reduced carbon, acetylene (and the aromatic fraction from coal tar) was the main source of organic chemicals in the chemical industry. It was prepared by the hydrolysis of calcium carbide, a reaction discovered by Friedrich Wöhler in 1862 and still familiar to students: + +Calcium carbide production requires high temperatures, ~2000 °C, necessitating the use of an electric arc furnace. In the US, this process was an important part of the late-19th century revolution in chemistry enabled by the massive hydroelectric power project at Niagara Falls. + +In the user, the carbide reacts with water to produce acetylene, 1 kg of carbide combining with 562.5 g of water to release 350 l of acetylene. + +Bonding +In terms of valence bond theory, in each carbon atom the 2s orbital hybridizes with one 2p orbital thus forming an sp hybrid. The other two 2p orbitals remain unhybridized. The two ends of the two sp hybrid orbital overlap to form a strong σ valence bond between the carbons, while on each of the other two ends hydrogen atoms attach also by σ bonds. The two unchanged 2p orbitals form a pair of weaker π bonds. + +Since acetylene is a linear symmetrical molecule, it possesses the D∞h point group. + +Physical properties + +Changes of state +At atmospheric pressure, acetylene cannot exist as a liquid and does not have a melting point. The triple point on the phase diagram corresponds to the melting point (−80.8 °C) at the minimal pressure at which liquid acetylene can exist (1.27 atm). At temperatures below the triple point, solid acetylene can change directly to the vapour (gas) by sublimation. The sublimation point at atmospheric pressure is −84.0 °C. + +Other +At room temperature, the solubility of acetylene in acetone is 27.9 g per kg. For the same amount of dimethylformamide (DMF), the solubility is 51 g. At +20.26 bar, the solubility increases to 689.0 and 628.0 g for acetone and DMF, respectively. These solvents are used in pressurized gas cylinders. + +Applications + +Welding +Approximately 20% of acetylene is supplied by the industrial gases industry for oxyacetylene gas welding and cutting due to the high temperature of the flame. Combustion of acetylene with oxygen produces a flame of over , releasing 11.8 kJ/g. Oxyacetylene is the hottest burning common fuel gas. Acetylene is the third-hottest natural chemical flame after dicyanoacetylene's and cyanogen at . Oxy-acetylene welding was a popular welding process in previous decades. The development and advantages of arc-based welding processes have made oxy-fuel welding nearly extinct for many applications. Acetylene usage for welding has dropped significantly. On the other hand, oxy-acetylene welding equipment is quite versatile – not only because the torch is preferred for some sorts of iron or steel welding (as in certain artistic applications), but also because it lends itself easily to brazing, braze-welding, metal heating (for annealing or tempering, bending or forming), the loosening of corroded nuts and bolts, and other applications. Bell Canada cable-repair technicians still use portable acetylene-fuelled torch kits as a soldering tool for sealing lead sleeve splices in manholes and in some aerial locations. Oxyacetylene welding may also be used in areas where electricity is not readily accessible. Oxyacetylene cutting is used in many metal fabrication shops. For use in welding and cutting, the working pressures must be controlled by a regulator, since above , if subjected to a shockwave (caused, for example, by a flashback), acetylene decomposes explosively into hydrogen and carbon. + +Chemicals +Acetylene, despite its simplicity, is not used for many industrial processes. + +One of the major chemical applications is ethynylation of formaldehyde. +Acetylene adds to aldehydes and ketones to form α-ethynyl alcohols: + +The reaction gives butynediol, with propargyl alcohol as the by-product. Copper acetylide is used as the catalyst. + +In addition to ethynylation, acetylene reacts with carbon monoxide, acetylene reacts to give acrylic acid, or acrylic esters. Metal catalysts are required. These derivatives form products such as acrylic fibers, glasses, paints, resins, and polymers. Except in China, use of acetylene as a chemical feedstock has declined by 70% from 1965 to 2007 owing to cost and environmental considerations. + +Historical uses +Prior to the widespread use of petrochemicals, coal-derived acetylene was a building block for several industrial chemicals. Thus acetylene can be hydrated to give acetaldehyde, which in turn can be oxidized to acetic acid. Processes leading to acrylates were also commericalized. Almost all of these processes because obsolete with the availability of petroleum-derived ethylene and propylene. + +Niche applications +In 1881, the Russian chemist Mikhail Kucherov described the hydration of acetylene to acetaldehyde using catalysts such as mercury(II) bromide. Before the advent of the Wacker process, this reaction was conducted on an industrial scale. + +The polymerization of acetylene with Ziegler–Natta catalysts produces polyacetylene films. Polyacetylene, a chain of CH centres with alternating single and double bonds, was one of the first discovered organic semiconductors. Its reaction with iodine produces a highly electrically conducting material. Although such materials are not useful, these discoveries led to the developments of organic semiconductors, as recognized by the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000 to Alan J. Heeger, Alan G MacDiarmid, and Hideki Shirakawa. + +In the 1920s, pure acetylene was experimentally used as an inhalation anesthetic. + +Acetylene is sometimes used for carburization (that is, hardening) of steel when the object is too large to fit into a furnace. + +Acetylene is used to volatilize carbon in radiocarbon dating. The carbonaceous material in an archeological sample is treated with lithium metal in a small specialized research furnace to form lithium carbide (also known as lithium acetylide). The carbide can then be reacted with water, as usual, to form acetylene gas to feed into a mass spectrometer to measure the isotopic ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12. + +Acetylene combustion produces a strong, bright light and the ubiquity of carbide lamps drove much acetylene commercialization in the early 20th century. Common applications included coastal lighthouses, street lights, and automobile and mining headlamps. In most of these applications, direct combustion is a fire hazard, and so acetylene has been replaced, first by incandescent lighting and many years later by low-power/high-lumen LEDs. Nevertheless, acetylene lamps remain in limited use in remote or otherwise inaccessible areas and in countries with a weak or unreliable central electric grid. + +Natural occurrence +The energy richness of the C≡C triple bond and the rather high solubility of acetylene in water make it a suitable substrate for bacteria, provided an adequate source is available. A number of bacteria living on acetylene have been identified. The enzyme acetylene hydratase catalyzes the hydration of acetylene to give acetaldehyde: + +Acetylene is a moderately common chemical in the universe, often associated with the atmospheres of gas giants. One curious discovery of acetylene is on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. Natural acetylene is believed to form from catalytic decomposition of long-chain hydrocarbons at temperatures of and above. Since such temperatures are highly unlikely on such a small distant body, this discovery is potentially suggestive of catalytic reactions within that moon, making it a promising site to search for prebiotic chemistry. + +Reactions + +Vinylation reactions +In vinylation reactions, H−X compounds add across the triple bond. Alcohols and phenols add to acetylene to give vinyl ethers. Thiols give vinyl thioethers. Similarly, vinylpyrrolidone and vinylcarbazole are produced industrially by vinylation of 2-pyrrolidone and carbazole. + +The hydration of acetylene is a vinylation reaction, but the resulting vinyl alcohol isomerizes to acetaldehyde. The reaction is catalyzed by mercury salts. This reaction once was the dominant technology for acetaldehyde production, but it has been displaced by the Wacker process, which affords acetaldehyde by oxidation of ethylene, a cheaper feedstock. A similar situation applies to the conversion of acetylene to the valuable vinyl chloride by hydrochlorination vs the oxychlorination of ethylene. + +Vinyl acetate is used instead of acetylene for some vinylations, which are more accurately described as transvinylations. Higher esters of vinyl acetate have been used in the synthesis of vinyl formate. + +Organometallic chemistry +Acetylene and its derivatives (2-butyne, diphenylacetylene, etc.) form complexes with transition metals. Its bonding to the metal is somewhat similar to that of ethylene complexes. These complexes are intermediates in many catalytic reactions such as alkyne trimerisation to benzene, tetramerization to cyclooctatetraene, and carbonylation to hydroquinone: + + at basic conditions (50–, 20–). + +In the presence of certain transition metals, alkynes undergo alkyne metathesis. + +Metal acetylides, species of the formula , are also common. Copper(I) acetylide and silver acetylide can be formed in aqueous solutions with ease due to a favorable solubility equilibrium. + +Acid-base reactions + +Acetylene has a pKa of 25, acetylene can be deprotonated by a superbase to form an acetylide: + + HC#CH + RM -> RH + HC#CM + +Various organometallic and inorganic reagents are effective. + +Hydrogenation +Acetylene can be semihydrogenated to ethylene, providing a feedstock for a variety of polyethylene plastics. Halogens add to the triple bond. + +Safety and handling +Acetylene is not especially toxic, but when generated from calcium carbide, it can contain toxic impurities such as traces of phosphine and arsine, which give it a distinct garlic-like smell. It is also highly flammable, as are most light hydrocarbons, hence its use in welding. Its most singular hazard is associated with its intrinsic instability, especially when it is pressurized: under certain conditions acetylene can react in an exothermic addition-type reaction to form a number of products, typically benzene and/or vinylacetylene, possibly in addition to carbon and hydrogen. Consequently, acetylene, if initiated by intense heat or a shockwave, can decompose explosively if the absolute pressure of the gas exceeds about . Most regulators and pressure gauges on equipment report gauge pressure, and the safe limit for acetylene therefore is 101 kPagage, or 15 psig. It is therefore supplied and stored dissolved in acetone or dimethylformamide (DMF), contained in a gas cylinder with a porous filling (Agamassan), which renders it safe to transport and use, given proper handling. Acetylene cylinders should be used in the upright position to avoid withdrawing acetone during use. + +Information on safe storage of acetylene in upright cylinders is provided by the OSHA, Compressed Gas Association, United States Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), EIGA, and other agencies. + +Copper catalyses the decomposition of acetylene, and as a result acetylene should not be transported in copper pipes. + +Cylinders should be stored in an area segregated from oxidizers to avoid exacerbated reaction in case of fire/leakage. Acetylene cylinders should not be stored in confined spaces, enclosed vehicles, garages, and buildings, to avoid unintended leakage leading to explosive atmosphere. In the US, National Electric Code (NEC) requires consideration for hazardous areas including those where acetylene may be released during accidents or leaks. Consideration may include electrical classification and use of listed Group A electrical components in US. Further information on determining the areas requiring special consideration is in NFPA 497. In Europe, ATEX also requires consideration for hazardous areas where flammable gases may be released during accidents or leaks. + +References + +External links + +Acetylene Production Plant and Detailed Process +Acetylene at Chemistry Comes Alive! + +Movie explaining acetylene formation from calcium carbide and the explosive limits forming fire hazards +Calcium Carbide & Acetylene at The Periodic Table of Videos (University of Nottingham) +CDC – NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards – Acetylene + + +Alkynes +Fuel gas +Industrial gases +Synthetic fuel technologies +Explosive gases +Alfred may refer to: + +Arts and entertainment + +Alfred J. Kwak, Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series +Alfred (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne +Alfred (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák +"Alfred (Interlude)" and "Alfred (Outro)", songs by Eminem from the 2020 album Music to Be Murdered By + +Business and organisations + Alfred, a radio station in Shaftesbury, England +Alfred Music, an American music publisher +Alfred University, New York, U.S. +The Alfred Hospital, a hospital in Melbourne, Australia + +People + Alfred (name) includes a list of people and fictional characters called Alfred + Alfred the Great (848/49 – 899), or Alfred I, a king of the West Saxons and of the Anglo-Saxons + +Places + +Antarctica + Mount Alfred (Antarctica) + +Australia + Alfredtown, New South Wales + County of Alfred, South Australia + +Canada + Alfred and Plantagenet, Ontario + Alfred Island, Nunavut + Mount Alfred, British Columbia + +United States + Alfred, Maine, a New England town + Alfred (CDP), Maine, the main village in the town + Alfred, New York, a town + Alfred (village), New York, within the town of Alfred + Alfred, North Dakota + Alfred, Texas + Lake Alfred, Florida + +Other uses +HMS Alfred, the name of several ships of the Royal Navy +USS Alfred, launched in 1774 as Black Prince +Alfred (software), an application launcher for macOS +ALFRED (nuclear reactor), lead-cooled fast reactor demonstrator +Allele Frequency Database, an electronic database of genetic alleles + +See also +Alfredo (disambiguation) +HMS King Alfred +HMS Royal Alfred (1864) + + +Events + +Pre-1600 + 475 – The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna. + 489 – Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way into Italy. + 632 – Fatimah, daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, dies, with her cause of death being a controversial topic among the Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims. + 663 – Silla–Tang armies crush the Baekje restoration attempt and force Yamato Japan to withdraw from Korea in the Battle of Baekgang. +1189 – Third Crusade: The Crusaders begin the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan. +1521 – Ottoman wars in Europe: The Ottoman Turks occupy Belgrade. +1524 – The Kaqchikel Maya rebel against their former Spanish allies during the Spanish conquest of Guatemala. +1542 – Turkish–Portuguese War: Battle of Wofla: The Portuguese are scattered, their leader Christovão da Gama is captured and later executed. +1565 – Pedro Menéndez de Avilés sights land near St. Augustine, Florida and founds the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the continental United States. + +1601–1900 +1609 – Henry Hudson discovers Delaware Bay. +1619 – Election of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor. +1640 – Second Bishop's War: King Charles I's English army loses to a Scottish Covenanter force at the Battle of Newburn. +1648 – Second English Civil War: The Siege of Colchester ends when Royalists Forces surrender to the Parliamentary Forces after eleven weeks, during the Second English Civil War. +1709 – Meidingnu Pamheiba is crowned King of Manipur. +1789 – William Herschel discovers a new moon of Saturn: Enceladus. +1810 – Napoleonic Wars: The French Navy accepts the surrender of a British Royal Navy fleet at the Battle of Grand Port. +1830 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's new Tom Thumb steam locomotive races a horse-drawn car, presaging steam's role in U.S. railroads. +1833 – The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 receives royal assent, making the purchase or ownership of slaves illegal in the British Empire with exceptions. +1845 – The first issue of Scientific American magazine is published. +1849 – Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire: After a month-long siege, Venice, which had declared itself independent as the Republic of San Marco, surrenders to Austria. +1850 – Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin premieres at the Staatskapelle Weimar. +1859 – The Carrington event is the strongest geomagnetic storm on record to strike the Earth. Electrical telegraph service is widely disrupted. +1861 – American Civil War: Union forces attack Cape Hatteras, North Carolina in the Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries which lasts for two days. +1862 – American Civil War: The Second Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of Second Manassas, begins in Virginia. The battle ends on August 30 with another Union defeat. +1867 – The United States takes possession of the (at this point unoccupied) Midway Atoll. +1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: Cetshwayo, last king of the Zulus, is captured by the British. +1898 – Caleb Bradham's beverage "Brad's Drink" is renamed "Pepsi-Cola". + +1901–present +1901 – Silliman University is founded in the Philippines. It is the first American private school in the country. +1909 – A group of mid-level Greek Army officers launches the Goudi coup, seeking wide-ranging reforms. +1913 – Queen Wilhelmina opens the Peace Palace in The Hague. +1914 – World War I: The Royal Navy defeats the German fleet in the Battle of Heligoland Bight. +1916 – World War I: Germany declares war on Romania. + 1916 – World War I: Italy declares war on Germany. +1917 – Ten suffragists, members of the Silent Sentinels, are arrested while picketing the White House in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. +1921 – Russian Civil War: The Red Army dissolved the Makhnovshchina, after driving the Revolutionary Insurgent Army out of Ukraine. +1924 – The Georgian opposition stages the August Uprising against the Soviet Union. +1936 – Nazi Germany begins its mass arrests of Jehovah's Witnesses, who are interned in concentration camps. +1937 – Toyota Motors becomes an independent company. +1943 – Denmark in World War II: German authorities demand that Danish authorities crack down on acts of resistance. The next day, martial law is imposed on Denmark. +1944 – World War II: Marseille and Toulon are liberated. +1946 – The Workers’ Party of North Korea, predecessor of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, is founded at a congress held in Pyongyang, North Korea. +1955 – Black teenager Emmett Till is lynched in Mississippi for whistling at a white woman, galvanizing the nascent civil rights movement. +1957 – U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond begins a filibuster to prevent the United States Senate from voting on the Civil Rights Act of 1957; he stopped speaking 24 hours and 18 minutes later, the longest filibuster ever conducted by a single Senator. +1963 – March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives his I Have a Dream speech. +1964 – The Philadelphia race riot begins. +1968 – Police and protesters clash during 1968 Democratic National Convention protests as protesters chant "The whole world is watching". +1973 – Norrmalmstorg robbery: Stockholm police secure the surrenders of hostage-takers Jan-Erik Olsson and Clark Olofsson, defusing the Norrmalmstorg hostage crisis. The behaviours of the hostages later give rise to the term Stockholm syndrome. +1988 – Ramstein air show disaster: Three aircraft of the Frecce Tricolori demonstration team collide and the wreckage falls into the crowd. Seventy-five are killed and 346 seriously injured. +1990 – Gulf War: Iraq declares Kuwait to be its newest province. + 1990 – An F5 tornado strikes the Illinois cities of Plainfield and Joliet, killing 29 people. +1993 – NASA's Galileo probe performs a flyby of the asteroid 243 Ida. Astronomers later discover a moon, the first known asteroid moon, in pictures from the flyby and name it Dactyl. + 1993 – Singaporean presidential election: Former Deputy Prime Minister Ong Teng Cheong is elected President of Singapore. Although it is the first presidential election to be determined by popular vote, the allowed candidates consist only of Ong and a reluctant whom the government had asked to run to confer upon the election the semblance of an opposition. + 1993 – The autonomous Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia in Bosnia and Herzegovina was transformed into the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia. + 1993 – A Tajikistan Airlines Yakovlev Yak-40 crashes during takeoff from Khorog Airport in Tajikistan, killing 82. +1996 – Chicago Seven defendant David Dellinger, antiwar activist Bradford Lyttle, Civil Rights Movement historian Randy Kryn, and eight others are arrested by the Federal Protective Service while protesting in a demonstration at the Kluczynski Federal Building in downtown Chicago during that year's Democratic National Convention. +1998 – Pakistan's National Assembly passes a constitutional amendment to make the "Qur'an and Sunnah" the "supreme law" but the bill is defeated in the Senate. + 1998 – Second Congo War: Loyalist troops backed by Angolan and Zimbabwean forces repulse the RCD and Rwandan offensive on Kinshasa. +1999 – The Russian space mission Soyuz TM-29 reaches completion, ending nearly 10 years of continuous occupation on the space station Mir as it approaches the end of its life. +2003 – In "one of the most complicated and bizarre crimes in the annals of the FBI", Brian Wells dies after becoming involved in a complex plot involving a bank robbery, a scavenger hunt, and a homemade explosive device. +2016 – The first experimental mission of ISRO's Scramjet Engine towards the realisation of an Air Breathing Propulsion System was successfully conducted from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. +2017 – China–India border standoff: China and India both pull their troops out of Doklam, putting an end to a two month-long stalemate over China’s construction of a road in disputed territory. + +Births + +Pre-1600 +1023 – Go-Reizei, emperor of Japan (d. 1068) +1366 – Jean Le Maingre, marshal of France (d. 1421) +1476 – Kanō Motonobu, Japanese painter (d. 1559) +1481 – Francisco de Sá de Miranda, Portuguese poet (d. 1558) +1582 – Taichang, emperor of China (d. 1620) +1591 – John Christian of Brieg, duke of Brzeg (d. 1639) +1592 – George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, English courtier and politician (d. 1628) + +1601–1900 +1612 – Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn, Dutch linguist and scholar (d. 1653) +1667 – Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, queen of Denmark and Norway (d. 1721) +1691 – Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1750) +1714 – Anthony Ulrich, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1774) +1728 – John Stark, American general (d. 1822) +1739 – Agostino Accorimboni, Italian composer (d. 1818) +1749 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German novelist, poet, playwright, and diplomat (d. 1832) +1774 – Elizabeth Ann Seton, American nun and saint, co-founded the Sisters of Charity Federation in the Vincentian-Setonian Tradition (d. 1821) +1801 – Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1877) +1814 – Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish author (d. 1873) +1816 – Charles Sladen, English-Australian politician, 6th Premier of Victoria (d. 1884) +1822 – Graham Berry, English-Australian politician, 11th Premier of Victoria (d. 1904) +1827 – Catherine Mikhailovna, Russian grand duchess (d. 1894) +1833 – Edward Burne-Jones, English artist of the Pre-Raphaelite movement (d. 1898) +1837 – Francis von Hohenstein, duke of Teck (d. 1900) +1840 – Alexander Cameron Sim, Scottish-Japanese pharmacist and businessman, founded Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club (d. 1900) +1853 – Vladimir Shukhov, Russian architect and engineer, designed the Adziogol Lighthouse (d. 1939) +1859 – Matilda Howell, American archer (d. 1938) + 1859 – Vittorio Sella, Italian mountaineer and photographer (d. 1943) +1867 – Umberto Giordano, Italian composer and academic (d. 1948) +1878 – George Whipple, American physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976) +1884 – Peter Fraser, Scottish-New Zealand journalist and politician, 24th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1950) +1885 – Vance Palmer, Australian author, playwright, and critic (d. 1959) +1887 – August Kippasto, Estonian-Australian wrestler and poet (d. 1973) + 1887 – István Kühár, Slovenian priest and politician (d. 1922) +1888 – Evadne Price, Australian actress, astrologer, and author (d. 1985) +1891 – Benno Schotz, Estonian-Scottish sculptor and engineer (d. 1984) +1894 – Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor and director (d. 1981) +1896 – Firaq Gorakhpuri, Indian author, poet, and critic (d. 1982) +1898 – Charlie Grimm, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (d. 1983) +1899 – Charles Boyer, French-American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1978) + 1899 – Béla Guttmann, Hungarian footballer and coach (d. 1981) + 1899 – Andrei Platonov, Russian author and poet (d. 1951) + 1899 – James Wong Howe, Chinese American cinematographer (d. 1976) + +1901–present +1903 – Bruno Bettelheim, Austrian-American psychologist and author (d. 1990) +1904 – Secondo Campini, Italian-American engineer (d. 1980) + 1904 – Leho Laurine, Estonian chess player (d. 1998) +1905 – Cyril Walters, Welsh-English cricketer (d. 1992) +1906 – John Betjeman, English poet and academic (d. 1984) +1908 – Roger Tory Peterson, American ornithologist and author (d. 1996) +1910 – Morris Graves, American painter and academic (d. 2001) + 1910 – Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch-American mathematician and economist Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985) +1911 – Joseph Luns, Dutch politician and diplomat, 5th Secretary General of NATO (d. 2002) +1913 – Robertson Davies, Canadian journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1995) + 1913 – Jack Dreyfus, American businessman, founded the Dreyfus Corporation (d. 2009) + 1913 – Lindsay Hassett, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1993) + 1913 – Robert Irving, English conductor and director (d. 1991) + 1913 – Terence Reese, English bridge player and author (d. 1996) + 1913 – Richard Tucker, American tenor and actor (d. 1975) +1915 – Max Robertson, Bengal-born English sportscaster and author (d. 2009) + 1915 – Tasha Tudor, American author and illustrator (d. 2008) +1916 – Hélène Baillargeon, Canadian singer and actress (d. 1997) + 1916 – C. Wright Mills American sociologist and author (d. 1962) + 1916 – Jack Vance, American author (d. 2013) +1917 – Jack Kirby, American author and illustrator (d. 1994) +1918 – L. B. Cole, American illustrator and publisher (d. 1995) +1919 – Godfrey Hounsfield, English biophysicist and engineer Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004) +1921 – John Herbert Chapman, Canadian physicist and engineer (d. 1979) + 1921 – Fernando Fernán Gómez, Spanish actor, director, and playwright (d. 2007) + 1921 – Nancy Kulp, American actress and soldier (d. 1991) + 1921 – Lidia Gueiler Tejada, the first female President of Bolivia (d. 2011) +1924 – Janet Frame, New Zealand author and poet (d. 2004) + 1924 – Tony MacGibbon, New Zealand cricketer and engineer (d. 2010) + 1924 – Peggy Ryan, American actress and dancer (d. 2004) + 1924 – Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Ukrainian-American rabbi and author (d. 2014) +1925 – Billy Grammer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2011) + 1925 – Donald O'Connor, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 2003) + 1925 – Philip Purser, English author and critic (d. 2022) +1928 – F. William Free, American businessman (d. 2003) + 1928 – Vilayat Khan, Indian sitar player and composer (d. 2004) +1929 – István Kertész, Hungarian conductor (d. 1973) + 1929 – Roxie Roker, American actress (d. 1995) +1930 – Ben Gazzara, American actor (d. 2012) + 1930 – Windsor Davies, British actor (d. 2019) +1931 – Tito Capobianco, Argentinian director and producer (d. 2018) + 1931 – Cristina Deutekom, Dutch soprano and actress (d. 2014) + 1931 – Ola L. Mize, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2014) + 1931 – John Shirley-Quirk, English actor, singer, and educator (d. 2014) + 1931 – Roger Williams, English hepatologist and academic (d. 2020) +1932 – Andy Bathgate, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2016) + 1932 – Yakir Aharonov, Israeli academic and educator +1933 – Philip French, English journalist, critic, and producer (d. 2015) + 1933 – Patrick Kalilombe, Malawian bishop and theologian (d. 2012) +1935 – Melvin Charney, Canadian sculptor and architect (d. 2012) + 1935 – Gilles Rocheleau, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1998) + 1935 – Sonny Shroyer, American actor +1936 – Don Denkinger, American baseball player and umpire (d. 2023) + 1936 – Warren M. Washington, American atmospheric scientist +1938 – Marla Adams, American actress + 1938 – Maurizio Costanzo, Italian journalist and academic (d. 2023) + 1938 – Marcello Gandini, Italian automotive designer + 1938 – Paul Martin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Prime Minister of Canada + 1938 – Bengt Fahlström, Swedish journalist (d. 2017) +1939 – John Kingman, English mathematician and academic +1940 – William Cohen, American lawyer and politician, 20th United States Secretary of Defense + 1940 – Ken Jenkins, American actor + 1940 – Roger Pingeon, French cyclist (d. 2017) +1941 – Michael Craig-Martin, Irish painter and illustrator + 1941 – Toomas Leius, Estonian tennis player and coach + 1941 – John Stanley Marshall, English drummer + 1941 – Paul Plishka, American opera singer +1942 – Wendy Davies, Welsh historian and academic + 1942 – Jorge Urosa, Venezuelan cardinal +1943 – Surayud Chulanont, Thai general and politician, 24th Prime Minister of Thailand + 1943 – Robert Greenwald, American director and producer + 1943 – Shuja Khanzada, Pakistani colonel and politician (d. 2015) + 1943 – Lou Piniella, American baseball player and manager + 1943 – David Soul, American actor and singer + 1943 – Jihad Al-Atrash, Lebanese actor and voice actor +1944 – Marianne Heemskerk, Dutch swimmer +1945 – Bob Segarini, American-Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 2023) +1947 – Emlyn Hughes, English footballer (d. 2004) + 1947 – Debra Mooney, American actress + 1947 – Liza Wang, Hong Kong actress and singer +1948 – Vonda N. McIntyre, American author (d. 2019) + 1948 – Murray Parker, New Zealand cricketer and educator + 1948 – Heather Reisman, Canadian publisher and businesswoman + 1948 – Danny Seraphine, American drummer and producer + 1948 – Elizabeth Wilmshurst, English academic and jurist +1949 – Hugh Cornwell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist + 1949 – Svetislav Pešić, Serbian basketball player and coach +1950 – Ron Guidry, American baseball player and coach + 1950 – Tony Husband, English cartoonist +1951 – Colin McAdam, Scottish footballer (d. 2013) + 1951 – Wayne Osmond, American singer-songwriter and actor + 1951 – Keiichi Suzuki, Japanese singer-songwriter +1952 – Jacques Chagnon, Canadian educator and politician + 1952 – Rita Dove, American poet and essayist + 1952 – Wendelin Wiedeking, German businessman +1953 – Ditmar Jakobs, German footballer + 1953 – Tõnu Kaljuste, Estonian conductor and journalist +1954 – Katharine Abraham, American feminist economist + 1954 – George M. Church, American geneticist, chemist, and engineer + 1954 – John Dorahy, Australian rugby player and coach + 1954 – Ravi Kanbur, Indian-English economist and academic +1956 – Luis Guzmán, Puerto Rican-American actor and producer + 1956 – John Long, American basketball player + 1956 – Steve Whiteman, American singer-songwriter +1957 – Greg Clark, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government + 1957 – Ivo Josipović, Croatian lawyer, jurist, and politician, 3rd President of Croatia + 1957 – Daniel Stern, American actor and director + 1957 – Ai Weiwei, Chinese sculptor and activist +1958 – Scott Hamilton, American figure skater +1959 – Brian Thompson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter +1960 – Emma Samms, English actress +1961 – Kim Appleby, English singer-songwriter and actress + 1961 – Cliff Benson, American football player + 1961 – Jennifer Coolidge, American actress + 1961 – Deepak Tijori, Indian actor and director + 1961 – Ian Pont, English cricketer and coach +1962 – Paul Allen, English footballer + 1962 – Craig Anton, American actor and screenwriter + 1962 – David Fincher, American director and producer +1963 – Regina Jacobs, American runner + 1963 – Maria Gheorghiu, Romanian folk singer-songwriter +1964 – Lee Janzen, American golfer + 1964 – Kaj Leo Johannesen, Faroese footballer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands +1965 – Dan Crowley, Australian rugby player + 1965 – Sonia Kruger, Australian television host and actress + 1965 – Satoshi Tajiri, Japanese video game developer; created Pokémon + 1965 – Amanda Tapping, British-Canadian actress and director + 1965 – Shania Twain, Canadian singer-songwriter +1966 – Priya Dutt, Indian social worker and politician +1967 – Jamie Osborne, English jockey and trainer +1968 – Billy Boyd, Scottish actor and singer +1969 – Jack Black, American actor and comedian + 1969 – Mary McCartney, English photographer and activist + 1969 – Jason Priestley, Canadian actor, director, and producer + 1969 – Sheryl Sandberg, American business executive + 1969 – Pierre Turgeon, Canadian-American ice hockey player +1970 – Melina Aslanidou, German-Greek singer-songwriter + 1970 – Rick Recht, American singer-songwriter +1971 – Shane Andrews, American baseball player + 1971 – Todd Eldredge, American figure skater and coach + 1971 – Janet Evans, American swimmer + 1971 – Daniel Goddard, Australian-American actor + 1971 – Raúl Márquez, Mexican-American boxer and sportscaster +1972 – Ravindu Shah, Kenyan cricketer + 1972 – Jay Witasick, American baseball player and coach +1973 – J. August Richards, American actor +1974 – Johan Andersson, Swedish game designer and programmer + 1974 – Takahito Eguchi, Japanese pianist and composer + 1974 – Carsten Jancker, German footballer and manager +1975 – Jamie Cureton, English footballer + 1975 – Gareth Farrelly, Irish footballer and manager + 1975 – Hamish McLachlan, Australian television personality + 1975 – Royce Willis, New Zealand rugby player +1976 – Federico Magallanes, Uruguayan footballer +1978 – Karine Turcotte, Canadian weightlifter +1979 – Shaila Dúrcal, Spanish singer-songwriter + 1979 – Robert Hoyzer, German footballer and referee + 1979 – Kristen Hughes, Australian netball player + 1979 – Markus Pröll, German footballer + 1979 – Ruth Riley, American basketball player +1980 – Antony Hämäläinen, Finnish singer-songwriter + 1980 – Debra Lafave, American sex offender and former teacher + 1980 – Ryan Madson, American baseball player + 1980 – Jaakko Ojaniemi, Finnish decathlete + 1980 – Carly Pope, Canadian actress and producer + 1980 – Jonathan Reynolds, English lawyer and politician +1981 – Matt Alrich, American lacrosse player + 1981 – Kezia Dugdale, Scottish politician + 1981 – Martin Erat, Czech ice hockey player + 1981 – Daniel Gygax, Swiss footballer + 1981 – Raphael Matos, Brazilian race car driver + 1981 – Jake Owen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist + 1981 – Ahmed Talbi, Moroccan footballer + 1981 – Agata Wróbel, Polish weightlifter +1982 – Anderson Silva de França, Brazilian footballer + 1982 – Kevin McNaughton, Scottish footballer + 1982 – Thiago Motta, Brazilian-Italian footballer + 1982 – Carlos Quentin, American baseball player + 1982 – LeAnn Rimes, American singer-songwriter and actress +1983 – Lasith Malinga, Sri Lankan cricketer + 1983 – Luke McAlister, New Zealand rugby player + 1983 – Lilli Schwarzkopf, German heptathlete +1984 – Will Harris, American baseball player +1985 – Kjetil Jansrud, Norwegian skier +1986 – Jeff Green, American basketball player + 1986 – Armie Hammer, American actor + 1986 – Tommy Hanson, American baseball player (d. 2015) + 1986 – Simon Mannering, New Zealand rugby league player + 1986 – Gilad Shalit, Israeli soldier and hostage + 1986 – Florence Welch, English singer-songwriter +1987 – Caleb Moore, American snowmobile racer (d. 2013) +1988 – Shalita Grant, American actress + 1988 – Rosie MacLennan, Canadian trampoline gymnast +1989 – César Azpilicueta, Spanish footballer + 1989 – Valtteri Bottas, Finnish race car driver + 1989 – Jo Kwon, South Korean singer and dancer + 1989 – Cassadee Pope, American singer-songwriter +1990 – Katie Findlay, Canadian actor + 1990 – Bojan Krkić, Spanish footballer +1991 – Felicio Brown Forbes, German footballer + 1991 – Samuel Larsen, American actor and singer + 1991 – Kyle Massey, American actor + 1991 – Andreja Pejić, Bosnian model +1992 – Gabriela Drăgoi, Romanian gymnast + 1992 – Bismack Biyombo, Congolese basketball player + 1992 – Max Collins, American-Filipino actress and model +1993 – Jakub Sokolík, Czech footballer +1994 – Manon Arcangioli, French tennis player + 1994 – Ons Jabeur, Tunisian tennis player +1998 – Weston McKennie, American soccer player +2001 – Kamilla Rakhimova, Russian tennis player +2003 – Quvenzhané Wallis, American actress + +Deaths + +Pre-1600 + 388 – Magnus Maximus, Roman emperor (b. 335) + 430 – Augustine of Hippo, Algerian bishop, theologian, and saint (b. 354) + 476 – Orestes, Roman general and politician + 632 – Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad (b. 605) + 683 – Kʼinich Janaab Pakal I, ajaw of the city-state of Palenque (b. 615) + 770 – Kōken, emperor of Japan (b. 718) + 876 – Louis the German, Frankish king (b. 804) + 919 – He Gui, Chinese general (b. 858) +1055 – Xing Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 1016) +1149 – Mu'in ad-Din Unur, Turkish ruler and regent +1231 – Eleanor of Portugal, Queen of Denmark +1341 – Levon IV, king of Armenia (b. 1309) +1406 – John de Sutton V, Baron Sutton of Dudley (b. 1380) +1481 – Afonso V, king of Portugal (b. 1432) +1540 – Federico II Gonzaga, duke of Mantua (b. 1500) + +1601–1900 +1609 – Francis Vere, English governor and general +1645 – Hugo Grotius, Dutch playwright, philosopher, and jurist (b. 1583) +1646 – Johannes Banfi Hunyades, English-Hungarian alchemist, chemist and metallurgist. (b. 1576) +1648 – George Lisle, English general (b. 1610) + 1648 – Charles Lucas, English general (b. 1613) +1654 – Axel Oxenstierna, Swedish lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Sweden (b. 1583) +1665 – Elisabetta Sirani, Italian painter (b. 1638) +1678 – John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1602) +1735 – Edwin Stead, English landowner and cricketer (b. 1701) +1757 – David Hartley, English psychologist and philosopher (b. 1705) +1784 – Junípero Serra, Spanish priest and missionary (b. 1713) +1793 – Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine, French general (b. 1740) +1805 – Alexander Carlyle, Scottish church leader and author (b. 1722) +1818 – Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, American fur trader, founded Chicago (b. 1750) +1820 – Andrew Ellicott, American surveyor and urban planner (b. 1754) +1832 – Edward Dando, English thief +1839 – William Smith, English geologist and engineer (b. 1769) +1888 – Julius Krohn, Finnish poet and journalist (b. 1835) +1891 – Robert Caldwell, English missionary and linguist (b. 1814) +1900 – Henry Sidgwick, English economist and philosopher (b. 1838) + +1901–present +1903 – Frederick Law Olmsted, American journalist and architect, co-designed Central Park (b. 1822) +1919 – Adolf Schmal, Austrian fencer and cyclist (b. 1872) +1934 – Edgeworth David, Welsh-Australian geologist and explorer (b. 1858) +1937 – George Prendergast, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Victoria (b. 1854) +1943 – Georg Hellat, Estonian architect (b. 1870) + 1943 – Boris III of Bulgaria (b. 1894) +1955 – Emmett Till, American murder victim (b. 1941) +1959 – Bohuslav Martinů, Czech-American composer and educator (b. 1890) +1965 – Giulio Racah, Italian-Israeli physicist and mathematician (b. 1909) +1968 – Dimitris Pikionis, Greek architect and academic (b. 1887) +1971 – Reuvein Margolies, Israeli author and scholar (b. 1889) +1972 – Prince William of Gloucester (b. 1941) +1975 – Fritz Wotruba, Austrian sculptor (b. 1907) +1976 – Anissa Jones, American actress (b. 1958) +1978 – Bruce Catton, American historian and journalist (b. 1899) + 1978 – Robert Shaw, English actor (b. 1927) +1981 – Béla Guttmann, Hungarian footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1899) +1982 – Geoff Chubb, South African cricketer (b. 1911) +1984 – Muhammad Naguib, Egyptian general and politician, 1st President of Egypt (b. 1901) +1985 – Ruth Gordon, American actress and screenwriter (b. 1896) +1986 – Russell Lee, American photographer and journalist (b. 1903) +1987 – John Huston, Irish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1906) +1988 – Jean Marchand, Canadian union leader and politician, 43rd Secretary of State for Canada (b. 1918) + 1988 – Max Shulman, American author and screenwriter (b. 1919) +1989 – John Steptoe, American author and illustrator (b. 1950) +1990 – Willy Vandersteen, Belgian author and illustrator (b. 1913) +1991 – Alekos Sakellarios, Greek director and screenwriter (b. 1913) +1993 – William Stafford, American poet and academic (b. 1914) +1995 – Earl W. Bascom, American rodeo performer and painter (b. 1906) + 1995 – Michael Ende, German scientist and author (b. 1929) +2005 – Jacques Dufilho, French actor (b. 1914) + 2005 – Esther Szekeres, Hungarian-Australian mathematician and academic (b. 1910) + 2005 – George Szekeres, Hungarian-Australian mathematician and academic (b. 1911) +2006 – Heino Lipp, Estonian shot putter and discus thrower (b. 1922) + 2006 – Benoît Sauvageau, Canadian educator and politician (b. 1963) + 2006 – Melvin Schwartz, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1932) +2007 – Arthur Jones, American businessman, founded Nautilus, Inc. and MedX Corporation (b. 1926) + 2007 – Hilly Kristal, American businessman, founded CBGB (b. 1932) + 2007 – Paul MacCready, American engineer and businessman, founded AeroVironment (b. 1925) + 2007 – Francisco Umbral, Spanish journalist and author (b. 1935) + 2007 – Miyoshi Umeki, Japanese-American actress (b. 1929) +2008 – Phil Hill, American race car driver (b. 1927) +2009 – Adam Goldstein, American drummer, DJ, and producer (b. 1973) + 2009 – Richard Egan, US Ambassador, Owner of Dell EMC, Engineer (b. 1963) +2010 – William P. Foster, American bandleader and educator (b. 1919) +2011 – Bernie Gallacher, English footballer (b. 1967) +2012 – Rhodes Boyson, English educator and politician (b. 1925) + 2012 – Shulamith Firestone, Canadian-American activist and author (b. 1945) + 2012 – Dick McBride, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1928) + 2012 – Saul Merin, Polish-Israeli ophthalmologist and academic (b. 1933) + 2012 – Ramón Sota, Spanish golfer (b. 1938) +2013 – John Bellany, Scottish painter and academic (b. 1942) + 2013 – Lorella Cedroni, Italian political scientist and philosopher (b. 1961) + 2013 – Edmund B. Fitzgerald, American businessman (b. 1926) + 2013 – Frank Pulli, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1935) + 2013 – Barry Stobart, English footballer (b. 1938) + 2013 – Rafael Díaz Ycaza, Ecuadorian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1925) +2014 – Glenn Cornick, English bass guitarist (b. 1947) + 2014 – Hal Finney, American cryptographer and programmer (b. 1956) + 2014 – John Anthony Walker, American soldier and spy (b. 1937) +2015 – Al Arbour, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (b. 1932) + 2015 – Mark Krasniqi, Kosovan ethnographer, poet, and translator (b. 1920) + 2015 – Nelson Shanks, American painter and educator (b. 1937) +2016 – Juan Gabriel, Mexican singer and songwriter (b. 1950) + 2016 – Mr. Fuji, American professional wrestler and manager (b. 1934) +2017 – Mireille Darc, French actress and model (b. 1938) +2020 – Chadwick Boseman, American actor and playwright (b. 1976) + +Holidays and observances +Christian feast day: +Alexander of Constantinople +Augustine of Hippo +Edmund Arrowsmith +Hermes +Moses the Black +August 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) +National Grandparents Day (Mexico) + +References + +External links + + + + + +Days of the year +August +The ten Arabic numerals 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are the most commonly used symbols for writing numbers. The term often also implies a positional notation using the numerals, as well as the use of a decimal base, in particular when contrasted with other systems such as Roman numerals. However, the symbols are also used to write numbers in other bases such as octal, as well as for writing non-numerical information such as trademarks or license plates identifiers. + +They are also called Western Arabic numerals, Ghubār numerals, Hindu-Arabic numerals, Western digits, Latin digits, or European digits. The Oxford English Dictionary differentiates them with the fully capitalized Arabic Numerals to refer to the Eastern digits. The term numbers or numerals or digits often implies only these symbols, however this can only be inferred from context. + +Europeans learned of Arabic numerals about the 10th century, though their spread was a gradual process. Two centuries later, in the Algerian city of Béjaïa, the Italian scholar Fibonacci first encountered the numerals; his work was crucial in making them known throughout Europe. European trade, books, and colonialism helped popularize the adoption of Arabic numerals around the world. The numerals have found worldwide use significantly beyond the contemporary spread of the Latin alphabet, and have become common in the writing systems where other numeral systems existed previously, such as Chinese and Japanese numerals. + +History + +Origin + +Positional decimal notation including a zero symbol was developed in India, using symbols visually distinct from those that would eventually enter into international use. As the concept spread, the sets of symbols used in different regions diverged over time. + +The immediate ancestors of the digits now commonly called "Arabic numerals" were introduced to Europe in the 10th century by Arabic speakers of Spain and North Africa, with digits at the time in wide use from Libya to Morocco. In the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula, the Arabs were using the Eastern Arabic numerals or "Mashriki" numerals: ٠, ١, ٢, ٣, ٤, ٥, ٦, ٧, ٨, ٩. + +Al-Nasawi wrote in the early 11th century that mathematicians had not agreed on the form of the numerals, but most of them had agreed to train themselves with the forms now known as Eastern Arabic numerals. The oldest specimens of the written numerals available are from Egypt and date to 873–874 AD. They show three forms of the numeral "2" and two forms of the numeral "3", and these variations indicate the divergence between what later became known as the Eastern Arabic numerals and the Western Arabic numerals. The Western Arabic numerals came to be used in the Maghreb and Al-Andalus from the 10th century onward. Some amount of consistency in the Western Arabic numeral forms endured from the 10th century, found in a Latin manuscript of Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae from 976 and the Gerbertian abacus, into the 12th and 13th centuries, in early manuscripts of translations from the city of Toledo. + +Calculations were originally performed using a dust board (takht, Latin: tabula), which involved writing symbols with a stylus and erasing them. The use of the dust board appears to have introduced a divergence in terminology as well: whereas the Hindu reckoning was called ḥisāb al-hindī in the east, it was called ḥisāb al-ghubār in the west (literally, "calculation with dust"). The numerals themselves were referred to in the west as ashkāl al‐ghubār ("dust figures") or qalam al-ghubår ("dust letters"). Al-Uqlidisi later invented a system of calculations with ink and paper "without board and erasing" (bi-ghayr takht wa-lā maḥw bal bi-dawāt wa-qirṭās). + +A popular myth claims that the symbols were designed to indicate their numeric value through the number of angles they contained, but there is no contemporary evidence of this, and the myth is difficult to reconcile with any digits past 4. + +Adoption and spread + +The first mentions of the numerals from 1 to 9 in the West are found in the 976 Codex Vigilanus, an illuminated collection of various historical documents covering a period from antiquity to the 10th century in Hispania. Other texts show that numbers from 1 to 9 were occasionally supplemented by a placeholder known as sipos, represented as a circle or wheel, reminiscent of the eventual symbol for zero. The Arabic term for zero is sifr (), transliterated into Latin as cifra, and the origin of the English word cipher. + +From the 980s, Gerbert of Aurillac (later Pope Sylvester II) used his position to spread knowledge of the numerals in Europe. Gerbert studied in Barcelona in his youth. He was known to have requested mathematical treatises concerning the astrolabe from Lupitus of Barcelona after he had returned to France. + +The reception of Arabic numerals in the West was gradual and lukewarm, as other numeral systems circulated in addition to the older Roman numbers. As a discipline, the first to adopt Arabic numerals as part of their own writings were astronomers and astrologists, evidenced from manuscripts surviving from mid-12th-century Bavaria. Reinher of Paderborn (1140–1190) used the numerals in his calendrical tables to calculate the dates of Easter more easily in his text Compotus emendatus. + +Italy + +Leonardo Fibonacci was a Pisan mathematician who had studied in Bugia, Algeria, and he endeavored to promote the numeral system in Europe with his 1202 book Liber Abaci: + +When my father, who had been appointed by his country as public notary in the customs at Bugia acting for the Pisan merchants going there, was in charge, he summoned me to him while I was still a child, and having an eye to usefulness and future convenience, desired me to stay there and receive instruction in the school of accounting. There, when I had been introduced to the art of the Indians' nine symbols through remarkable teaching, knowledge of the art very soon pleased me above all else and I came to understand it. + +The Liber Abaci introduced the huge advantages of a positional numeric system, and was widely influential. As Fibonacci used the symbols from Béjaïa for the digits, these symbols were also introduced in the same instruction, ultimately leading to their widespread adoption. + +Fibonacci's introduction coincided with Europe's commercial revolution of the 12th and 13th centuries, centered in Italy. Positional notation could be used for quicker and more complex mathematical operations (such as currency conversion) than Roman and other numeric systems could. They could also handle larger numbers, did not require a separate reckoning tool, and allowed the user to check a calculation without repeating the entire procedure. Although positional notation opened possibilities that were hampered by previous systems, late medieval Italian merchants did not stop using Roman numerals (or other reckoning tools). Rather, Arabic numerals became an additional tool that could be used alongside others. + +Europe + +By the late 14th century, only a few texts using Arabic numerals appeared outside of Italy. This suggests that the use of Arabic numerals in commercial practice, and the significant advantage they conferred, remained a virtual Italian monopoly until the late 15th century. This may in part have been due to language barriers: although Fibonacci's Liber Abaci was written in Latin, the Italian abacus traditions was predominantly written in Italian vernaculars that circulated in the private collections of abacus schools or individuals. It was likely difficult for non-Italian merchant bankers to access comprehensive information. + +The European acceptance of the numerals was accelerated by the invention of the printing press, and they became widely known during the 15th century. Their use grew steadily in other centers of finance and trade such as Lyon. Early evidence of their use in Britain includes: an equal hour horary quadrant from 1396, in England, a 1445 inscription on the tower of Heathfield Church, Sussex; a 1448 inscription on a wooden lych-gate of Bray Church, Berkshire; and a 1487 inscription on the belfry door at Piddletrenthide church, Dorset; and in Scotland a 1470 inscription on the tomb of the first Earl of Huntly in Elgin Cathedral. In central Europe, the King of Hungary Ladislaus the Posthumous, started the use of Arabic numerals, which appear for the first time in a royal document of 1456. + +By the mid-16th century, they were in common use in most of Europe. Roman numerals remained in use mostly for the notation of Anno Domini (“A.D.”) years, and for numbers on clock faces. Other digits (such as Eastern Arabic) were virtually unknown. + +Russia +Prior to the introduction of Arabic numerals, Cyrillic numerals, derived from the Cyrillic alphabet, were used by South and East Slavs. The system was used in Russia as late as the early 18th century, although it was formally replaced in official use by Peter the Great in 1699. Reasons for Peter's switch from the alphanumerical system are believed to go beyond a surface-level desire to imitate the West. Historian Peter Brown makes arguments for sociological, militaristic, and pedagogical reasons for the change. At a broad, societal level, Russian merchants, soldiers, and officials increasingly came into contact with counterparts from the West and became familiar with the communal use of Arabic numerals. Peter also covertly travelled throughout Northern Europe from 1697 to 1698 during his Grand Embassy and was likely informally exposed to Western mathematics during this time. The Cyrillic system was found to be inferior for calculating practical kinematic values, such as the trajectories and parabolic flight patterns of artillery. With its use, it was difficult to keep pace with Arabic numerals in the growing field of ballistics, whereas Western mathematicians such as John Napier had been publishing on the topic since 1614. + +China + +While positional Chinese numeral systems such as the counting rod system and Suzhou numerals had been in use prior to the introduction of Arabic numerals, the externally-developed system was eventually introduced to medieval China by the Hui people. In the early 17th century, European-style Arabic numerals were introduced by Spanish and Portuguese Jesuits. + +Encoding +The ten Arabic numerals are encoded in virtually every character set designed for electric, radio, and digital communication, such as Morse code. They are encoded in ASCII (and therefore in Unicode encodings) at positions 0x30 to 0x39. Masking all but the four least-significant binary digits gives the value of the decimal digit, a design decision facilitating the digitization of text onto early computers. EBCDIC used a different offset, but also possessed the aforementioned masking property. + +Comparison with other digits + +See also + Arabic numeral variations + Regional variations in modern handwritten Arabic numerals + Seven-segment display + Text figures + +Citations + +General and cited sources + +Further reading + +External links + + Lam Lay Yong, "Development of Hindu Arabic and Traditional Chinese Arithmetic", Chinese Science 13 (1996): 35–54. + "Counting Systems and Numerals", Historyworld. Retrieved 11 December 2005. + The Evolution of Numbers. 16 April 2005. + O'Connor, J. J., and E. F. Robertson, Indian numerals . November 2000. + History of the numerals + Arabic numerals + Hindu-Arabic numerals + Numeral & Numbers' history and curiosities + Gerbert d'Aurillac's early use of Hindu-Arabic numerals at Convergence + +Numerals + + +Events + +Pre-1600 + 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum. + 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (Enkyklikon) to the bishops of his empire, supporting the Monophysite christological position. + 537 – Siege of Rome: The Byzantine general Belisarius receives his promised reinforcements, 1,600 cavalry, mostly of Hunnic or Slavic origin and expert bowmen. He starts, despite shortages, raids against the Gothic camps and Vitiges is forced into a stalemate. +1241 – Battle of Liegnitz: Mongol forces defeat the Polish and German armies. +1288 – Mongol invasions of Vietnam: Yuan forces are defeated by Trần forces in the Battle of Bach Dang in present-day northern Vietnam. +1388 – Despite being outnumbered 16:1, forces of the Old Swiss Confederacy are victorious over the Archduchy of Austria in the Battle of Näfels. +1454 – The Treaty of Lodi is signed, establishing a balance of power among northern Italian city-states for almost 50 years. + +1601–1900 +1609 – Eighty Years' War: Spain and the Dutch Republic sign the Treaty of Antwerp to initiate twelve years of truce. + 1609 – Philip III of Spain issues the decree of the "Expulsion of the Moriscos". +1682 – Robert Cavelier de La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River, claims it for France and names it Louisiana. +1784 – The Treaty of Paris, ratified by the United States Congress on January 14, 1784, is ratified by King George III of the Kingdom of Great Britain, ending the American Revolutionary War. Copies of the ratified documents are exchanged on May 12, 1784. +1860 – On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville makes the oldest known recording of an audible human voice. +1865 – American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the war. + +1901–present +1909 – The U.S. Congress passes the Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act. +1917 – World War I: The Battle of Arras: The battle begins with Canadian Corps executing a massive assault on Vimy Ridge. +1918 – World War I: The Battle of the Lys: The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps is crushed by the German forces during what is called the Spring Offensive on the Belgian region of Flanders. +1937 – The Kamikaze arrives at Croydon Airport in London. It is the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe. +1939 – African-American singer Marian Anderson gives a concert at the Lincoln Memorial after being denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution. +1940 – World War II: Operation Weserübung: Germany invades Denmark and Norway. + 1940 – Vidkun Quisling seizes power in Norway. +1942 – World War II: The Battle of Bataan ends. An Indian Ocean raid by Japan's 1st Air Fleet sinks the British aircraft carrier and the Australian destroyer . +1945 – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran pastor and anti-Nazi dissident, is executed by the Nazi regime. + 1945 – World War II: The German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer is sunk by the Royal Air Force. + 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Königsberg, in East Prussia, ends. + 1945 – The United States Atomic Energy Commission is formed. +1947 – The Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornadoes kill 181 and injure 970 in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. + 1947 – The Journey of Reconciliation, the first interracial Freedom Ride begins through the upper South in violation of Jim Crow laws. The riders wanted enforcement of the United States Supreme Court's 1946 Irene Morgan decision that banned racial segregation in interstate travel. + 1947 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 22 relating to Corfu Channel incident is adopted. +1948 – Jorge Eliécer Gaitán's assassination provokes a violent riot in Bogotá (the Bogotazo), and a further ten years of violence in Colombia. + 1948 – Fighters from the Irgun and Lehi Zionist paramilitary groups attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, killing over 100. +1952 – Hugo Ballivián's government is overthrown by the Bolivian National Revolution, starting a period of agrarian reform, universal suffrage and the nationalization of tin mines + 1952 – Japan Air Lines Flight 301 crashes into Mount Mihara, Izu Ōshima, Japan, killing 37. +1957 – The Suez Canal in Egypt is cleared and opens to shipping following the Suez Crisis. +1959 – Project Mercury: NASA announces the selection of the United States' first seven astronauts, whom the news media quickly dub the "Mercury Seven". +1960 – Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister of South Africa and architect of apartheid, narrowly survives an assassination attempt by a white farmer, David Pratt in Johannesburg. +1967 – The first Boeing 737 (a 100 series) makes its maiden flight. +1969 – The first British-built Concorde 002 makes its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford with Brian Trubshaw as the test pilot. +1980 – The Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein kills philosopher Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and his sister Bint al-Huda after three days of torture. +1981 – The U.S. Navy nuclear submarine accidentally collides with the Nissho Maru, a Japanese cargo ship, sinking it and killing two Japanese sailors. +1989 – Tbilisi massacre: An anti-Soviet peaceful demonstration and hunger strike in Tbilisi, demanding restoration of Georgian independence, is dispersed by the Soviet Army, resulting in 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries. +1990 – An IRA bombing in County Down, Northern Ireland, kills three members of the UDR. + 1990 – The Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement is signed for in the Mackenzie Valley of the western Arctic. + 1990 – An Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia collides in mid-air with a Cessna 172 over Gadsden, Alabama, killing both of the Cessna's occupants. +1991 – Georgia declares independence from the Soviet Union. +1992 – A U.S. Federal Court finds former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega guilty of drug and racketeering charges. He is sentenced to 30 years in prison. +2003 – Iraq War: Baghdad falls to American forces. +2009 – In Tbilisi, Georgia, up to 60,000 people protest against the government of Mikheil Saakashvili. +2013 – A 6.1–magnitude earthquake strikes Iran killing 32 people and injuring over 850 people. + 2013 – At least 13 people are killed and another three injured after a man goes on a spree shooting in the Serbian village of Velika Ivanča. +2014 – A student stabs 20 people at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania. +2017 – The Palm Sunday church bombings at Coptic churches in Tanta and Alexandria, Egypt, take place. + 2017 – After refusing to give up his seat on an overbooked United Express flight, Dr. David Dao Duy Anh is forcibly dragged off the flight by aviation security officers, leading to major criticism of United Airlines. +2021 – Burmese military and security forces commit the Bago massacre, during which at least 82 civilians are killed. + +Births + +Pre-1600 +1096 – Al-Muqtafi, caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate (d. 1160) +1285 – Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan, Emperor Renzong of Yuan (d. 1320) +1458 – Camilla Battista da Varano, Italian saint (d. 1524) +1498 – Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine (d. 1550) +1586 – Julius Henry, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (d. 1665) +1597 – John Davenport, English minister, co-founded the New Haven Colony (d. 1670) +1598 – Johann Crüger, Sorbian-German composer and theorist (d. 1662) + +1601–1900 +1624 – Henrik Rysensteen, Dutch military engineer (d. 1679) +1627 – Johann Caspar Kerll, German organist and composer (d. 1693) +1634 – Countess Albertine Agnes of Nassau (d. 1696) +1648 – Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway, French soldier and diplomat (d. 1720) +1649 – James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire (d. 1685) +1654 – Samuel Fritz, Czech Jesuit missionary to South America (d. 1725?) +1680 – Philippe Néricault Destouches, French playwright (d. 1754) +1686 – James Craggs the Younger, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (d. 1721) +1691 – Johann Matthias Gesner, German scholar and academic (d. 1761) +1717 – Georg Matthias Monn, Austrian organist, composer, and educator (d. 1750) +1770 – Thomas Johann Seebeck, German physicist and academic (d. 1831) +1773 – Étienne Aignan, French author and academic (d. 1824) +1794 – Theobald Boehm, German flute player and composer (d. 1881) +1802 – Elias Lönnrot, Finnish physician and philologist (d. 1884) +1806 – Isambard Kingdom Brunel, English engineer, designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge (d. 1859) +1807 – James Bannerman, Scottish theologian and academic (d. 1868) +1821 – Charles Baudelaire, French poet and critic (d. 1867) +1830 – Eadweard Muybridge, English photographer and cinematographer (d. 1904) +1835 – Leopold II of Belgium (d. 1909) + 1835 – Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore (d. 1913) +1846 – Paolo Tosti, Italian-English composer and educator (d. 1916) +1848 – Ezequiél Moreno y Díaz, Spanish Augustinian Recollect priest and saint (d. 1906) +1865 – Erich Ludendorff, German general and politician (d. 1937) + 1865 – Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Polish-American mathematician and engineer (d. 1923) +1867 – Chris Watson, Chilean-Australian journalist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1941) + 1867 – Charles Winckler, Danish tug of war competitor, discus thrower, and shot putter (d. 1932) +1872 – Léon Blum, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1950) +1875 – Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (d. 1912) +1880 – Jan Letzel, Czech architect (d. 1925) +1882 – Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1946) + 1882 – Otz Tollen, German actor (d. 1965) +1883 – Frank King, American cartoonist (d. 1969) +1887 – Konrad Tom, Polish actor, writer, singer, and director (d. 1957) +1888 – Sol Hurok, Ukrainian-American talent manager (d. 1974) +1893 – Charles E. Burchfield, American painter (d.1967) + 1893 – Victor Gollancz, English publisher, founded Victor Gollancz Ltd (d. 1967) + 1893 – Rahul Sankrityayan, Indian linguist, author, and scholar (d. 1963) +1895 – Mance Lipscomb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1976) + 1895 – Michel Simon, Swiss-French actor (d. 1975) +1897 – John B. Gambling, American radio host (d. 1974) +1898 – Curly Lambeau, American football player and coach (d. 1965) + 1898 – Paul Robeson, American singer, actor, and activist (d. 1976) +1900 – Allen Jenkins, American actor and singer (d. 1974) + +1901–present +1901 – Jean Bruchési, Canadian historian and author (d. 1979) + 1901 – Paul Willis, American actor and director (d. 1960) +1902 – Théodore Monod, French explorer and scholar (d. 2000) +1903 – Ward Bond, American actor (d. 1960) +1904 – Sharkey Bonano, American singer, trumpet player, and bandleader (d. 1972) +1905 – J. William Fulbright, American lawyer and politician (d. 1995) +1906 – Rafaela Aparicio, Spanish actress (d. 1996) + 1906 – Antal Doráti, Hungarian-American conductor and composer (d. 1988) + 1906 – Hugh Gaitskell, British politician and leader of the Labour Party (d. 1963) + 1906 – Victor Vasarely, Hungarian-French painter (d. 1997) +1908 – Joseph Krumgold, American author and screenwriter (d. 1980) + 1908 – Paula Nenette Pepin, French composer, pianist and lyricist (d. 1990) +1909 – Robert Helpmann, Australian dancer, actor, and choreographer (d. 1986) +1910 – Abraham A. Ribicoff, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (d. 1998) +1912 – Lev Kopelev, Ukrainian-German author and academic (d. 1997) +1915 – Daniel Johnson Sr., Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Premier of Quebec (d. 1968) +1916 – Julian Dash, American swing music jazz tenor saxophonist (d. 1974) + 1916 – Heinz Meyer, German Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) during World War II (d. 1987) + 1916 – Bill Leonard, American journalist (d. 1994) +1917 – Johannes Bobrowski, German songwriter and poet (d. 1965) + 1917 – Ronnie Burgess, Welsh international footballer and manager (d. 2005) + 1917 – Brad Dexter, American actor (d. 2002) + 1917 – Henry Hewes, American theater writer (d. 2006) +1918 – Jørn Utzon, Danish architect, designed the Sydney Opera House (d. 2008) +1919 – J. Presper Eckert, American engineer, invented the ENIAC (d. 1995) +1921 – Jean-Marie Balestre, French businessman (d. 2008) + 1921 – Yitzhak Navon, Israeli politician (d. 2015) + 1921 – Frankie Thomas, American actor (d. 2006) + 1921 – Mary Jackson, African-American mathematician and aerospace engineer (d. 2005) +1922 – Carl Amery, German author and activist (d. 2005) +1923 – Leonard Levy, American historian and author (d. 2006) +1924 – Arthur Shaw, English professional footballer (d. 2015) +1925 – Virginia Gibson, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2013) + 1925 – Art Kane, American photographer (d. 1995) +1926 – Gerry Fitt, Northern Irish soldier and politician; British life peer (d. 2005) + 1926 – Hugh Hefner, American publisher, founded Playboy Enterprises (d. 2017) + 1926 – Harris Wofford, American politician, author, and civil rights activist (d. 2019) +1927 – Tiny Hill, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2019) +1928 – Paul Arizin, American basketball player (d. 2006) + 1928 – Tom Lehrer, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and mathematician +1929 – Sharan Rani Backliwal, Indian sarod player and scholar (d. 2008) + 1929 – Fred Hollows, New Zealand-Australian ophthalmologist (d. 1993) + 1929 – Paule Marshall, American author and academic (d. 2019) +1930 – Nathaniel Branden, Canadian-American psychotherapist and author (d. 2014) + 1930 – F. Albert Cotton, American chemist and academic (d. 2007) + 1930 – Jim Fowler, American zoologist and television host (d. 2019) + 1930 – Wallace McCain, Canadian businessman, founded McCain Foods (d. 2011) +1931 – Richard Hatfield, Canadian lawyer and politician, 26th Premier of New Brunswick (d. 1991) +1932 – Armin Jordan, Swiss conductor (d. 2006) + 1932 – Peter Moores, English businessman and philanthropist (d. 2016) + 1932 – Carl Perkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998) +1933 – Jean-Paul Belmondo, French actor and producer (d. 2021) + 1933 – René Burri, Swiss photographer and journalist (d. 2014) + 1933 – Fern Michaels, American author + 1933 – Richard Rose, American political scientist and academic + 1933 – Gian Maria Volonté, Italian actor (d. 1994) +1934 – Bill Birch, New Zealand surveyor and politician, 38th New Zealand Minister of Finance + 1934 – Tom Phillis, Australian motorcycle racer (d. 1962) + 1934 – Mariya Pisareva, Russian high jumper +1935 – Aulis Sallinen, Finnish composer and academic + 1935 – Avery Schreiber, American actor and comedian (d. 2002) +1936 – Jerzy Maksymiuk, Polish pianist, composer, and conductor +1936 – Drew Shafer, American LGBT rights activist from Missouri (d. 1989) + 1936 – Valerie Solanas, American radical feminist author, attempted murderer (d. 1988) +1937 – Simon Brown, Baron Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, English lieutenant, lawyer, and judge (d. 2023) + 1937 – Marty Krofft, Canadian screenwriter and producer + 1937 – Valerie Singleton, English television and radio host +1938 – Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russian businessman and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Russia (d. 2010) +1939 – Michael Learned, American actress +1940 – Hans-Joachim Reske, German sprinter + 1940 – Jim Roberts, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015) +1941 – Kay Adams, American singer-songwriter + 1941 – Hannah Gordon, Scottish actress +1942 – Brandon deWilde, American actor (d. 1972) + 1942 – Margo Smith, American singer-songwriter +1943 – Leila Khaled, Palestinian activist + 1943 – Terry Knight, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2004) + 1943 – Clive Sullivan, Welsh rugby league player (d. 1985) +1944 – Joe Brinkman, American baseball player and umpire + 1944 – Heinz-Joachim Rothenburg, German shot putter +1945 – Steve Gadd, American drummer and percussionist +1946 – Nate Colbert, American baseball player (d. 2023) + 1946 – Alan Knott, English cricketer + 1946 – Sara Parkin, Scottish activist and politician + 1946 – David Webb, English footballer, coach, and manager +1947 – Giovanni Andrea Cornia, Italian economist and academic +1948 – Jaya Bachchan, Indian actress and politician + 1948 – Tito Gómez, Puerto Rican salsa singer (d. 2007) + 1948 – Michel Parizeau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach + 1948 – Patty Pravo, Italian singer +1949 – Tony Cragg, English sculptor +1952 – Robert Clark, American author + 1952 – Bruce Robertson, New Zealand rugby player + 1952 – Tania Tsanaklidou, Greek singer and actress +1953 – John Howard, English singer-songwriter and pianist + 1953 – Hal Ketchum, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2020) + 1953 – Stephen Paddock, American mass murderer responsible for the 2017 Las Vegas shooting (d. 2017) +1954 – Ken Kalfus, American journalist and author + 1954 – Dennis Quaid, American actor + 1954 – Iain Duncan Smith, British soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions +1955 – Yamina Benguigui, Algerian-French director and politician + 1955 – Joolz Denby, English poet and author +1956 – Miguel Ángel Russo, Argentinian footballer and coach + 1956 – Nigel Shadbolt, English computer scientist and academic + 1956 – Marina Zoueva, Russian ice dancer and coach +1957 – Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer and architect (d. 2011) + 1957 – Martin Margiela, Belgian fashion designer + 1957 – Jamie Redfern, English-born Australian television presenter and pop singer +1958 – Nadey Hakim, British-Lebanese surgeon and sculptor + 1958 – Tony Sibson, English boxer + 1958 – Nigel Slater, English food writer and author +1959 – Bernard Jenkin, English businessman and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence +1960 – Jaak Aab, Estonian educator and politician, Minister of Social Affairs of Estonia +1961 – Mark Kelly, Irish keyboard player + 1961 – Kirk McCaskill, Canadian-American baseball and hockey player +1962 – John Eaves, American production designer and illustrator + 1962 – Ihor Podolchak, Ukrainian director, producer, and screenwriter + 1962 – Imran Sherwani, English field hockey player + 1962 – Jeff Turner, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster +1963 – Marc Jacobs, American-French fashion designer + 1963 – Joe Scarborough, American journalist, lawyer, and politician +1964 – Rob Awalt, German-American football player + 1964 – Juliet Cuthbert, Jamaican sprinter + 1964 – Doug Ducey, American politician and businessman, 23rd Governor of Arizona + 1964 – Peter Penashue, Canadian businessman and politician, 9th Canadian Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs + 1964 – Margaret Peterson Haddix, American author + 1964 – Rick Tocchet, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach +1965 – Helen Alfredsson, Swedish golfer + 1965 – Paulina Porizkova, Czech-born Swedish-American model and actress + 1965 – Jeff Zucker, American businessman + 1965 – Mark Pellegrino, American actor +1966 – John Hammond, English weather forecaster + 1966 – Cynthia Nixon, American actress +1967 – Natascha Engel, German-English translator and politician + 1967 – Sam Harris, American author, philosopher, and neuroscientist +1968 – Jay Chandrasekhar, American actor, comedian, writer and director +1969 – Barnaby Kay, English actor + 1969 – Linda Kisabaka, German runner +1970 – Chorão, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 2013) +1971 – Peter Canavan, Irish footballer and manager + 1971 – Leo Fortune-West, English footballer and manager + 1971 – Austin Peck, American actor + 1971 – Jacques Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver +1972 – Bernard Ackah, German-Japanese martial artist and kick-boxer + 1972 – Siiri Vallner, Estonian architect +1974 – Megan Connolly, Australian actress (d. 2001) + 1974 – Jenna Jameson, American actress and pornographic performer +1975 – Robbie Fowler, English footballer and manager + 1975 – David Gordon Green, American director and screenwriter +1976 – Kyle Peterson, American baseball player and sportscaster +1977 – Gerard Way, American singer-songwriter and comic book writer +1978 – Kousei Amano, Japanese actor + 1978 – Jorge Andrade, Portuguese footballer + 1978 – Rachel Stevens, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress +1979 – Jeff Reed, American football player + 1979 – Keshia Knight Pulliam, American actress +1980 – Sarah Ayton, English sailor + 1980 – Luciano Galletti, Argentinian footballer + 1980 – Albert Hammond Jr., American singer-songwriter and guitarist +1981 – Milan Bartovič, Slovak ice hockey player + 1981 – A. J. Ellis, American baseball player + 1981 – Ireneusz Jeleń, Polish footballer + 1981 – Dennis Sarfate, American baseball player + 1981 – Eric Harris, American mass murderer, responsible for the Columbine High School massacre (d. 1999) +1982 – Jay Baruchel, Canadian actor + 1982 – Carlos Hernández, Costa Rican footballer + 1982 – Kathleen Munroe, Canadian-American actress +1983 – Ryan Clark, Australian actor +1984 – Habiba Ghribi, Tunisian runner + 1984 – Adam Loewen, Canadian baseball player + 1984 – Óscar Razo, Mexican footballer +1985 – Antonio Nocerino, Italian footballer + 1985 – David Robertson, American baseball player +1986 – Mike Hart, American football player + 1986 – Leighton Meester, American actress +1987 – Kassim Abdallah, French-Comorian footballer + 1987 – Graham Gano, American football player + 1987 – Craig Mabbitt, American singer + 1987 – Jesse McCartney, American singer-songwriter and actor + 1987 – Jarrod Mullen, Australian rugby league player + 1987 – Jazmine Sullivan, American singer-songwriter + 1988 – Jeremy Metcalfe, English racing driver +1989 – Bianca Belair, American wrestler + 1989 – Danielle Kahle, American figure skater +1990 – Kristen Stewart, American actress + 1990 – Ryan Williams, American football player +1991 – Gai Assulin, Israeli footballer + 1991 – Ryan Kelly, American basketball player + 1991 – Mary Killman, American synchronized swimmer +1992 – Joshua Ledet, American singer +1993 – Alexandra Hunt, American politician +1994 – Joey Pollari, American actor +1995 – Domagoj Bošnjak, Croatian basketball player + 1995 – Robert Bauer, German-Kazakhstani footballer + 1995 – Demi Vermeulen, Dutch Paralympic equestrian +1996 – Jayden Brailey, Australian rugby league player + 1996 – Giovani Lo Celso, Argentinian international footballer +1997 – Luis Arráez, Venezuelan baseball player +1998 – Elle Fanning, American actress +1999 – Lil Nas X, American rapper +2000 – Jackie Evancho, American singer +2004 – TommyInnit, British YouTuber and Twitch streamer + +Deaths + +Pre-1600 +585 BC – Jimmu, emperor of Japan (b. 711 BC) + 436 – Tan Daoji, Chinese general and politician + 491 – Zeno, emperor of the Byzantine Empire (b. 425) + 682 – Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari, Egyptian politician, Governor of Egypt (b. 616) + 715 – Constantine, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 664) +1024 – Benedict VIII, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 980) +1137 – William X, duke of Aquitaine (b. 1099) +1241 – Henry II, High Duke of Poland (b. 1196) +1283 – Margaret of Scotland, queen of Norway (b. 1261) +1327 – Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, Scottish nobleman (ca. 1296) +1483 – Edward IV, king of England (b. 1442) +1484 – Edward of Middleheim, prince of Wales (b. 1473) +1550 – Alqas Mirza, Safavid prince (b. 1516) +1553 – François Rabelais, French monk and scholar (b. 1494) +1557 – Mikael Agricola, Finnish priest and scholar (b. 1510) +1561 – Jean Quintin, French priest, knight and writer (b. 1500) + +1601–1900 +1626 – Francis Bacon, English jurist and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (b. 1561) +1654 – Matei Basarab, Romanian prince (b. 1588) +1693 – Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy, French author (b. 1618) +1747 – Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, Scottish soldier and politician (b. 1667) +1754 – Christian Wolff, German philosopher and academic (b. 1679) +1761 – William Law, English priest and theologian (b. 1686) +1768 – Sarah Fielding, English author (b. 1710) +1804 – Jacques Necker, Swiss-French politician, Chief Minister to the French Monarch (b. 1732) +1806 – William V, stadtholder of the Dutch Republic (b. 1748) +1872 – Erastus Corning, American businessman and politician (b. 1794) +1876 – Charles Goodyear, American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1804) +1882 – Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poet and painter (b. 1828) +1889 – Michel Eugène Chevreul, French chemist and academic (b. 1786) + +1901–present +1904 – Isabella II, Spanish queen (b. 1830) +1909 – Helena Modjeska, Polish-American actress (b. 1840) +1915 – Raymond Whittindale, English rugby player (b. 1883) +1917 – James Hope Moulton, English philologist and scholar (b. 1863) +1922 – Hans Fruhstorfer, German entomologist and explorer (b. 1866) +1926 – Zip the Pinhead, American freak show performer (b. 1857) +1936 – Ferdinand Tönnies, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1855) +1940 – Mrs Patrick Campbell, English actress (b. 1865) +1944 – Yevgeniya Rudneva, Ukrainian lieutenant and pilot (b. 1920) +1945 – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor and theologian (b. 1906) + 1945 – Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral (b. 1887) + 1945 – Johann Georg Elser, German carpenter (b. 1903) + 1945 – Hans Oster, German general (b. 1887) + 1945 – Karl Sack, German lawyer and jurist (b. 1896) + 1945 – Hans von Dohnányi, Austrian-German lawyer and jurist (b. 1902) +1948 – George Carpenter, Australian 5th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1872) + 1948 – Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian lawyer and politician, 16th Colombian Minister of National Education (b. 1903) +1951 – Vilhelm Bjerknes, Norwegian physicist and meteorologist (b. 1862) +1953 – Eddie Cochems, American football player and coach (b. 1877) + 1953 – C. E. M. Joad, English philosopher and television host (b. 1891) + 1953 – Hans Reichenbach, German philosopher from the Vienna Circle (b. 1891) +1959 – Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect, designed the Price Tower and Fallingwater (b. 1867) +1961 – Zog I of Albania (b. 1895) +1963 – Eddie Edwards, American trombonist (b. 1891) + 1963 – Xul Solar, Argentinian painter and sculptor (b. 1887) +1970 – Gustaf Tenggren, Swedish-American illustrator and animator (b. 1896) +1976 – Dagmar Nordstrom, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1903) + 1976 – Phil Ochs, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1940) + 1976 – Renato Petronio, Italian rower (b. 1891) +1978 – Clough Williams-Ellis, English-Welsh architect, designed Portmeirion (b. 1883) +1980 – Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, Iraqi cleric and philosopher (b. 1935) +1982 – Wilfrid Pelletier, Canadian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1896) +1988 – Brook Benton, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1931) + 1988 – Hans Berndt, German footballer (b. 1913) + 1988 – Dave Prater, American singer (b. 1937) +1991 – Forrest Towns, American hurdler and coach (b. 1914) +1993 – Joseph B. Soloveitchik, American rabbi and philosopher (b. 1903) +1996 – Richard Condon, American author and publicist (b. 1915) +1997 – Mae Boren Axton, American singer-songwriter (b. 1914) + 1997 – Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (b. 1916) +1998 – Tom Cora, American cellist and composer (b. 1953) +1999 – Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, Nigerien general and politician, President of Niger (b. 1949) +2000 – Tony Cliff, Trotskyist activist and founder of the Socialist Workers Party (b. 1917) +2001 – Willie Stargell, American baseball player and coach (b. 1940) +2002 – Pat Flaherty, American race car driver (b. 1926) + 2002 – Leopold Vietoris, Austrian soldier, mathematician, and academic (b. 1891) +2003 – Jerry Bittle, American cartoonist (b. 1949) +2006 – Billy Hitchcock, American baseball player, coach, manager (b. 1916) + 2006 – Vilgot Sjöman, Swedish director and screenwriter (b. 1924) +2007 – Egon Bondy, Czech philosopher and poet (b. 1930) + 2007 – Dorrit Hoffleit, American astronomer and academic (b. 1907) +2009 – Nick Adenhart, American baseball player (b. 1986) +2010 – Zoltán Varga, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1945) +2011 – Zakariya Rashid Hassan al-Ashiri, Bahraini journalist (b. 1971) + 2011 – Sidney Lumet, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1924) +2012 – Malcolm Thomas, Welsh rugby player and cricketer (b. 1929) + 2012 – Boris Parygin, Soviet philosopher, psychologist, and author (b. 1930) +2013 – David Hayes, American sculptor and painter (b. 1931) + 2013 – Greg McCrary, American football player (b. 1952) + 2013 – Mordechai Mishani, Israeli lawyer and politician (b. 1945) + 2013 – McCandlish Phillips, American journalist and author (b. 1927) + 2013 – Paolo Soleri, Italian-American architect, designed the Cosanti (b. 1919) +2014 – Gil Askey, American trumpet player, composer, and producer (b. 1925) + 2014 – Chris Banks, American football player (b. 1973) + 2014 – Rory Ellinger, American lawyer and politician (b. 1941) + 2014 – Norman Girvan, Jamaican economist, academic, and politician (b. 1941) + 2014 – Aelay Narendra, Indian politician (b. 1946) + 2014 – A. N. R. Robinson, Trinbagonian politician, 3rd President of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1926) + 2014 – Svetlana Velmar-Janković, Serbian author (b. 1933) +2015 – Paul Almond, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1931) + 2015 – Margaret Rule, British marine archaeologist (b. 1928) + 2015 – Nina Companeez, French director and screenwriter (b. 1937) + 2015 – Alexander Dalgarno, English physicist and academic (b. 1928) + 2015 – Ivan Doig, American journalist and author (b. 1939) + 2015 – Tsien Tsuen-hsuin, Chinese-American academic (b. 1909) +2016 – Duane Clarridge, American spy (b. 1932) + 2016 – Will Smith, American football player (b. 1981) +2017 – John Clarke, New Zealand-Australian comedian, writer, and satirist (b. 1948) +2019 – Charles Van Doren, American writer and editor (b. 1926) +2021 – Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (b. 1921) + 2021 – DMX, American rapper and actor (b. 1970) + 2021 – Nikki Grahame, British reality-TV icon (b. 1982) + 2021 – Ian Gibson, British scientist and Labour Party politician (b. 1938) + 2021 – Ramsey Clark, American lawyer (b. 1927) +2022 – Dwayne Haskins, American football player (b. 1997) +2023 – Karl Berger, German-American jazz pianist (b. 1935) + +Holidays and observances +Christian feast day: +Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Anglicanism, Lutheranism) +Gaucherius +Materiana +Waltrude +April 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) +Anniversary of the German Invasion of Denmark (Denmark) +Baghdad Liberation Day (Iraqi Kurdistan) +Constitution Day (Kosovo) +Day of National Unity (Georgia) +Day of the Finnish Language (Finland) +Day of Valor or Araw ng Kagitingan (Philippines) +Feast of the Second Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema) +Martyr's Day (Tunisia) +National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day (United States) +Remembrance for Haakon Sigurdsson (The Troth) +Vimy Ridge Day (Canada) +Valour Day (CRPF) + +References + +External links + + BBC: On This Day + + Historical Events on April 9 + +Days of the year +April +ABM or Abm may refer to: + +Companies + ABM Industries, a US facility management provider + ABM Intelligence, a UK software company + Advantage Business Media, a US digital marketing and information services company + Associated British Maltsters, acquired by Dalgety plc + +Computing + Advanced Bit Manipulation, an instruction set extension for x86 + Agent-based model, a computational model for simulating autonomous agents + Asynchronous Balanced Mode, an HDLC communication mode + +Military + Air Battle Manager, US Air Force rated officer position + Anti-ballistic missile + Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, 1972 arms control treaty between the US and USSR + +Organizations + Abahlali baseMjondolo, movement of South African shack dwellers + Anglican Board of Mission - Australia, the national mission agency of the Anglican Church of Australia + Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, an Egyptian jihadist group + +Other uses + Abanyom language of Nigeria, ISO 639-3 code + ABM (video game), 1980 video game + Account-based marketing, strategic approach to business marketing + Activity-based management, method of identifying and evaluating activities that a business performs + Agaricus blazei Murill, a species of mushroom + Automated banking machine, Canadian term for automated teller machine + IATA airport code for Northern Peninsula Airport, in Queensland, Australia + Atmospheric Black Metal +Apuleius (, ; also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis; c. 124 – after 170) was a Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He was born in the Roman province of Numidia, in the Berber city of Madauros, modern-day M'Daourouch, Algeria. He studied Platonism in Athens, travelled to Italy, Asia Minor, and Egypt, and was an initiate in several cults or mysteries. The most famous incident in his life was when he was accused of using magic to gain the attentions (and fortune) of a wealthy widow. He declaimed and then distributed his own defense before the proconsul and a court of magistrates convened in Sabratha, near Oea (modern Tripoli, Libya). This is known as the Apologia. + +His most famous work is his bawdy picaresque novel the Metamorphoses, otherwise known as The Golden Ass. It is the only Latin novel that has survived in its entirety. It relates the adventures of its protagonist, Lucius, who experiments with magic and is accidentally turned into a donkey. Lucius goes through various adventures before he is turned back into a human being by the goddess Isis. + +Life + +Apuleius was born in Madauros, a colonia in Numidia on the North African coast bordering Gaetulia, and he described himself as "half-Numidian half-Gaetulian." Madaurus was the same colonia where Augustine of Hippo later received part of his early education, and, though located well away from the Romanized coast, is today the site of some pristine Roman ruins. As to his first name, no praenomen is given in any ancient source; late-medieval manuscripts began the tradition of calling him Lucius from the name of the hero of his novel. Details regarding his life come mostly from his defense speech (Apology) and his work Florida, which consists of snippets taken from some of his best speeches. + +His father was a municipal magistrate (duumvir) who bequeathed at his death the sum of nearly two million sesterces to his two sons. Apuleius studied with a master at Carthage (where he later settled) and later at Athens, where he studied Platonist philosophy among other subjects. He subsequently went to Rome to study Latin rhetoric and, most likely, to speak in the law courts for a time before returning to his native North Africa. He also travelled extensively in Asia Minor and Egypt, studying philosophy and religion, burning up his inheritance while doing so. + +Apuleius was an initiate in several Greco-Roman mysteries, including the Dionysian Mysteries. He was a priest of Asclepius and, according to Augustine, sacerdos provinciae Africae (i.e., priest of the province of Carthage). + +Not long after his return home he set out upon a new journey to Alexandria. On his way there he was taken ill at the town of Oea (modern-day Tripoli) and was hospitably received into the house of Sicinius Pontianus, with whom he had been friends when he had studied in Athens. The mother of Pontianus, Pudentilla, was a very rich widow. With her son's consent – indeed encouragement – Apuleius agreed to marry her. Meanwhile, Pontianus himself married the daughter of one Herennius Rufinus; he, indignant that Pudentilla's wealth should pass out of the family, instigated his son-in-law, together with a younger brother, Sicinius Pudens, a mere boy, and their paternal uncle, Sicinius Aemilianus, to join him in impeaching Apuleius upon the charge that he had gained the affections of Pudentilla by charms and magic spells. The case was heard at Sabratha, near Tripoli, c. 158 AD, before Claudius Maximus, proconsul of Africa. The accusation itself seems to have been ridiculous, and the spirited and triumphant defence spoken by Apuleius is still extant. This is known as the Apologia (A Discourse on Magic). + +Apuleius accused an extravagant personal enemy of turning his house into a brothel and prostituting his own wife. + +Of his subsequent career, we know little. Judging from the many works of which he was author, he must have devoted himself diligently to literature. He occasionally gave speeches in public to great reception; he had the charge of exhibiting gladiatorial shows and wild beast events in the province, and statues were erected in his honour by the senate of Carthage and of other senates. + +The date, place and circumstances of Apuleius' death are not known. There is no record of his activities after 170, a fact which has led some people to believe that he must have died about then (say in 171), although other scholars feel that he may still have been alive in 180 or even 190. + +Works + +The Golden Ass + +The Golden Ass (Asinus Aureus) or Metamorphoses is the only Latin novel that has survived in its entirety. It is an imaginative, irreverent, and amusing work that relates the ludicrous adventures of one Lucius, who introduces himself as related to the famous philosophers Plutarch and Sextus of Chaeronea. Lucius experiments with magic and is accidentally turned into an ass. In this guise, he hears and sees many unusual things, until escaping from his predicament in a rather unexpected way. Within this frame story are found many digressions, the longest among them being the well-known tale of Cupid and Psyche. This story is a rare instance of a fairy tale preserved in an ancient literary text. + +The Metamorphoses ends with the (once again human) hero, Lucius, eager to be initiated into the mystery cult of Isis; he abstains from forbidden foods, bathes, and purifies himself. He is introduced to the Navigium Isidis. Then the secrets of the cult's books are explained to him, and further secrets are revealed before he goes through the process of initiation, which involves a trial by the elements on a journey to the underworld. Lucius is then asked to seek initiation into the cult of Osiris in Rome, and eventually is initiated into the pastophoroi – a group of priests that serves Isis and Osiris. + +The Apologia +Apologia (Apulei Platonici pro Se de Magia) is the version of the defence presented in Sabratha, in 158–159, before the proconsul Claudius Maximus, by Apuleius accused of the crime of magic. Between the traditional exordium and peroratio, the argumentation is divided into three sections: + Refutation of the accusations levelled against his private life. He demonstrates that by marrying Pudentilla he had no interested motive and that he carries it away, intellectually and morally, on his opponents. + Attempt to prove that his so-called "magical operations" were in fact indispensable scientific experiments for an imitator of Aristotle and Hippocrates, or the religious acts of a Roman Platonist. + A recount of the events that have occurred in Oea since his arrival and pulverize the arguments against him. +The main interest of the Apology is historical, as it offers substantial information about its author, magic and life in Africa in the second century. + +Other works +His other works are: + Florida. A compilation of twenty-three extracts from his various speeches and lectures. + De Platone et dogmate eius (On Plato and his Doctrine). An outline in two books of Plato's physics and ethics, preceded by a life of Plato + (On the God of Socrates). A work on the existence and nature of daemons, the intermediaries between gods and humans. This treatise was attacked by Augustine of Hippo. It contains a passage comparing gods and kings which is the first recorded occurrence of the proverb "familiarity breeds contempt": + On the Universe. This Latin translation of Pseudo-Aristotle's work De Mundo is probably by Apuleius. + +Apuleius wrote many other works which have not survived. He wrote works of poetry and fiction, as well as technical treatises on politics, dendrology, agriculture, medicine, natural history, astronomy, music, and arithmetic, and he translated Plato's Phaedo. + +Spurious works +The extant works wrongly attributed to Apuleius are: + Peri Hermeneias (On interpretation). A brief Latin version of a guide to Aristotelian logic. + Asclepius. A Latin paraphrase of a lost Greek dialogue (The perfect discourse) featuring Asclepius and Hermes Trismegistus. + +Apuleian Sphere +The Apuleian Sphere described in Petosiris to Nechepso, also known as "Columcille's Circle" or "Petosiris' Circle", is a magical prognosticating device for predicting the survival of a patient. + +See also + Boethius + Square of opposition + +Notes + +References + +Further reading + +External links + + + + + Works by Apuleius at Perseus Digital Library + + + L. Apuleii Opera Omnia, Lipsia, sumtibus C. Cnoblochii, 1842, pars I (the Metamorphoses) and pars II (Florida, De Deo Socratis, De Dogmate Platonis, De Mundo Libri, Asclepius, Apologia et Fragmenta), in a critical edition with explanatory notes + The works of Apuleius, London, George Bell and sons, 1878 (English translation) + Apuleius (123–180 CE) the Famous Berber writer + Apulei Opera (Latin texts of all the surviving works of Apuleius) at The Latin Library + English translation of Florida by H. E. Butler + English translation of the Apologia by H. E. Butler + English translation of the God of Socrates by Thomas Taylor + Apuleius – Apologia: Seminar (Latin text of the Apologia with H. E. Butler's English translation and an English crib with discussion and commentary) + Apology as Prosecution: The Trial of Apuleius + Apuleius' works: text, concordances and frequency list + Ongoing website for "Apuleius and Africa" conference + Apuleius and Africa Bibliography + The Spectacles of Apuleius: a digital humanities project + Free public domain audiobook version of ''Apuleius on the Doctrines of Plato translated by George Burges +Apologia d'Appuleio, Lisboa, 1859, at the National Library of Portugal + +2nd-century Berber people +124 births +170 deaths +2nd-century clergy +2nd-century novelists +2nd-century philosophers +2nd-century Romans +2nd-century writers in Latin +Ancient Roman rhetoricians +Appuleii +Berber writers +Classical Latin novelists +Magic (supernatural) +Middle Platonists +People from Souk Ahras Province +Priests from the Roman Empire +Romans from Africa +Silver Age Latin writers +Alexander Selkirk (167613 December 1721) was a Scottish privateer and Royal Navy officer who spent four years and four months as a castaway (1704–1709) after being marooned by his captain, initially at his request, on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific Ocean. He survived that ordeal but died from tropical illness years later while serving as a Lieutenant aboard off West Africa. + +Selkirk was an unruly youth and joined buccaneering voyages to the South Pacific during the War of the Spanish Succession. One such expedition was on Cinque Ports, captained by Thomas Stradling under the overall command of William Dampier. Stradling's ship stopped to resupply at the uninhabited Juan Fernández Islands, west of South America, and Selkirk judged correctly that the craft was unseaworthy and asked to be left there. Selkirk's suspicions were soon justified, as Cinque Ports foundered near Malpelo Island 400 km (250 mi) from the coast of what is now Colombia. + +By the time he was eventually rescued by English privateer Woodes Rogers, who was accompanied by Dampier, Selkirk had become adept at hunting and making use of the resources that he found on the island. His story of survival was widely publicized after his return, becoming one of the sources of inspiration for the writer Daniel Defoe's fictional character Robinson Crusoe. + +Early life and privateering +Alexander Selkirk was the son of a shoemaker and tanner in Lower Largo, Fife, Scotland, born in 1676. In his youth he displayed a quarrelsome and unruly disposition. He was summoned before the Kirk Session in August 1693 for his "indecent conduct in church", but he "did not appear, being gone to sea". He was back at Largo in 1701 when he again came to the attention of church authorities for assaulting his brothers. + +Early on, he was engaged in buccaneering. In 1703, he joined an expedition of English privateer and explorer William Dampier to the South Pacific Ocean, setting sail from Kinsale in Ireland on 11 September. They carried letters of marque from the Lord High Admiral authorizing their armed merchant ships to attack foreign enemies as the War of the Spanish Succession was then going on between England and Spain. Dampier was captain of St George and Selkirk served on Cinque Ports, St Georges companion ship, as sailing master under Captain Thomas Stradling. By this time, Selkirk must have had considerable experience at sea. + +In February 1704, following a stormy passage around Cape Horn, the privateers fought a long battle with a well-armed French vessel, St Joseph, only to have it escape to warn its Spanish allies of their arrival in the Pacific. A raid on the Panamanian gold mining town of Santa María failed when their landing party was ambushed. The easy capture of Asunción, a heavily laden merchantman, revived the men's hopes of plunder, and Selkirk was put in charge of the prize ship. Dampier took off some much-needed provisions of wine, brandy, sugar, and flour, then abruptly set the ship free, arguing that the gain was not worth the effort. In May 1704, Stradling decided to abandon Dampier and strike out on his own. + +Castaway + +In September 1704, after parting ways with Dampier, Captain Stradling brought Cinque Ports to an island known to the Spanish as Más a Tierra located in the uninhabited Juan Fernández archipelago off the coast of Chile for a mid-expedition restocking of fresh water and supplies. + +Selkirk had grave concerns about the seaworthiness of their vessel and wanted to make the necessary repairs before going any further. He declared that he would rather stay on Juan Fernández than continue in a dangerously leaky ship. Stradling took him up on the offer and landed Selkirk on the island with a musket, a hatchet, a knife, a cooking pot, a Bible, bedding and some clothes. Selkirk immediately regretted his rashness, but Stradling refused to let him back on board. + +Cinque Ports did indeed later founder off the coast of what is now Colombia. Stradling and some of his crew survived the loss of their ship but were forced to surrender to the Spanish. The survivors were taken to Lima, Peru, where they endured a harsh imprisonment. + +Life on the island +At first, Selkirk remained along the shoreline of Más a Tierra. During this time he ate spiny lobsters and scanned the ocean daily for rescue, suffering all the while from loneliness, misery, and remorse. Hordes of raucous sea lions, gathered on the beach for the mating season, eventually drove him to the island's interior. Once inland, his way of life took a turn for the better. More foods were available there: feral goats—introduced by earlier sailors—provided him with meat and milk, while wild turnips, the leaves of the indigenous cabbage tree and dried Schinus fruits (pink peppercorns) offered him variety and spice. Rats would attack him at night, but he was able to sleep soundly and in safety by domesticating and living near feral cats. + +Selkirk proved resourceful in using materials that he found on the island: he forged a new knife out of barrel hoops left on the beach, he built two huts out of pepper trees, one of which he used for cooking and the other for sleeping, and he employed his musket to hunt goats and his knife to clean their carcasses. As his gunpowder dwindled, he had to chase prey on foot. During one such chase, he was badly injured when he tumbled from a cliff, lying helpless and unable to move for about a day. His prey had cushioned his fall, probably sparing him a broken back. + +Childhood lessons learned from his father, a tanner, now served him well. For example, when his clothes wore out, he made new ones from hair-covered goatskins using a nail for sewing. As his shoes became unusable, he did not need to replace them, since his toughened, calloused feet made protection unnecessary. He sang psalms and read from the Bible, finding it a comfort in his situation and a prop for his English. + +During his sojourn on the island, two vessels came to anchor. Unfortunately for Selkirk, both were Spanish. As a Scotsman and a privateer, he would have faced a grim fate if captured and therefore did his best to hide. Once, he was spotted and chased by a group of Spanish sailors from one of the ships. His pursuers urinated beneath the tree in which he was hiding but failed to notice him. The would-be captors then gave up and sailed away. + +Rescue + +Selkirk's long-awaited deliverance came on 2 February 1709 by way of Duke, a privateering ship piloted by William Dampier, and its sailing companion Duchess. Thomas Dover led the landing party that met Selkirk. After four years and four months without human company, Selkirk was almost incoherent with joy. The Duke captain and leader of the expedition was Woodes Rogers, who wryly referred to Selkirk as the governor of the island. The agile castaway caught two or three goats a day and helped restore the health of Rogers' men, who had developed scurvy. + +Captain Rogers was impressed by Selkirk's physical vigor, but also by the peace of mind that he had attained while living on the island, observing: "One may see that solitude and retirement from the world is not such an insufferable state of life as most men imagine, especially when people are fairly called or thrown into it unavoidably, as this man was." He made Selkirk Dukes second mate, later giving him command of one of their prize ships, Increase, before it was ransomed by the Spanish. + +Selkirk returned to privateering with a vengeance. At Guayaquil in present-day Ecuador, he led a boat crew up the Guayas River where several wealthy Spanish ladies had fled and looted the gold and jewels they had hidden inside their clothing. His part in the hunt for treasure galleons along the coast of Mexico resulted in the capture of Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación y Desengaño, renamed Bachelor, on which he served as sailing master under Captain Dover to the Dutch East Indies. Selkirk completed the around-the-world voyage by the Cape of Good Hope as the sailing master of Duke, arriving at the Downs off the English coast on 1 October 1711. He had been away for eight years. + +Later life and influence + +Selkirk's experience as a castaway aroused a great deal of attention in England. Fellow crewman Edward Cooke mentioned Selkirk's ordeal in a book chronicling their privateering expedition, A Voyage to the South Sea and Round the World (1712). A more detailed recounting was published by the expedition's leader, Rogers, within months. The following year, prominent essayist Richard Steele wrote an article about him for The Englishman newspaper. Selkirk appeared set to enjoy a life of ease and celebrity, claiming his share of Duke plundered wealth—about £800 (equivalent to £ today). However, legal disputes made the amount of any payment uncertain. + +After a few months in London, he began to seem more like his former self again. But he still missed his secluded and solitary moments, "I am now worth eight hundred pounds, but shall never be as happy as when I was not worth a farthing." In September 1713, he was charged with assaulting a shipwright in Bristol and may have been kept in confinement for two years. He returned to Lower Largo, where he met Sophia Bruce, a young dairymaid. They eloped to London early and married on 4 March 1717. He was soon off to sea again, having enlisted in the Royal Navy. While on a visit to Plymouth in 1720, he married a widowed innkeeper named Frances Candis. He was serving as an officer on board , engaged in an anti-piracy patrol off the west coast of Africa. The ship lingered near the mouth of the River Gambia to resupply. However, the natives took several of their number hostages and ransomed them off for food. As the ship sailed down the coast of West Africa, men began to contract yellow fever from the swarms of mosquitoes that followed them. Selkirk became sick with the disease in early December. He died on 13 December 1721, along with shipmate William King. Both were buried at sea. + +When Daniel Defoe published The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1719), few readers could have missed the resemblance to Selkirk. An illustration on the first page of the novel shows "a rather melancholy-looking man standing on the shore of an island, gazing inland", in the words of modern explorer Tim Severin. He is dressed in the familiar hirsute goatskins, his feet and shins bare. Yet Crusoe's island is located not in the mid-latitudes of the South Pacific but away in the Caribbean, where the furry attire would hardly be comfortable in the tropical heat. This incongruity supports the popular belief that Selkirk was a model for the fictional character, though most literary scholars now accept that he was "just one of many survival narratives that Defoe knew about". + +In other literary works + +In film +Selkirk, the Real Robinson Crusoe is a stop motion film by Walter Tournier based on Selkirk's life. It premièred simultaneously in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay on 2 February 2012, distributed by The Walt Disney Company. It was the first full-length animated feature to be produced in Uruguay. + +Commemoration + +Selkirk has been memorialized in his Scottish birthplace. Lord Aberdeen delivered a speech on 11 December 1885, after which his wife, Lady Aberdeen, unveiled a bronze statue and plaque in memory of Selkirk outside a house on the site of his original home on the Main Street of Lower Largo. David Gillies of Cardy House, Lower Largo, a descendant of the Selkirks, donated the statue created by Thomas Stuart Burnett. + +The Scotsman is also remembered in his former island home. In 1869 the crew of placed a bronze tablet at a spot called Selkirk's Lookout on a mountain of Más a Tierra, Juan Fernández Islands, to mark his stay. On 1 January 1966 Chilean president Eduardo Frei Montalva renamed Más a Tierra Robinson Crusoe Island after Defoe's fictional character to attract tourists. The largest of the Juan Fernández Islands, known as Más Afuera, became Alejandro Selkirk Island, although Selkirk probably never saw that island since it is located to the west. + +Archaeological findings +An archaeological expedition to the Juan Fernández Islands in February 2005 found part of a nautical instrument that likely belonged to Selkirk. It was "a fragment of copper alloy identified as being from a pair of navigational dividers" dating from the early 18th (or late 17th) century. Selkirk is the only person known to have been on the island at that time who is likely to have had dividers and was even said by Rogers to have had such instruments in his possession. The artifact was discovered while excavating a site not far from Selkirk's Lookout where the famous castaway is believed to have lived. +In 1825, during John Howell's research of Alexander Selkirk's biography, his "flip-can" was in the possession of his great-grand-nephew John Selkirk, and Alexander's musket was "in the possession of Major Lumsden of Lathallan." + +See also +List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea + +Notes + +References + +Further reading + +External links + + "Trapped on a Pacific Island: Scientists Research the Real Robinson Crusoe" by Marco Evers (6  Feb­ru­ary 2009) in Spiegel Online + "Island Gives Up Secret of Real Robinson Crusoe" in The Scotsman (22  Sep­tem­ ber 2005) + "The Real Robinson Crusoe" by Bruce Selcraig (July 2005) in Smithsonian + An account of a trip to Selkirk's Island by James S. Bruce and Mayme S. Bruce (Spring 1993) in The Explorers Journal +"On a Piece of Stone: Alexander Selkirk on Greater Land" by Edward E. Leslie (1988) in Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls: True Stories of Castaways and Other Survivors (pp. 61–85) +Satellite imagery of the Juan Fernández Islands from Google Maps + + +1676 births +1700s missing person cases +1721 deaths +18th century in Chile +18th-century Scottish people +British privateers +Burials at sea +Castaways +Circumnavigators of the globe +Date of birth unknown +Deaths from yellow fever +Formerly missing people +Juan Fernández Islands +Maritime folklore +People from Lower Largo +People who died at sea +Piracy in the Pacific Ocean +Robinson Crusoe +Scottish sailors +An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles (missile defense). Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological, or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory. The term "anti-ballistic missile" is a generic term conveying a system designed to intercept and destroy any type of ballistic threat; however, it is commonly used for systems specifically designed to counter intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). + +Current counter-ICBM systems + +There are a limited number of systems worldwide that can intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles: + + The Russian A-135 anti-ballistic missile system (renamed in 2017 to A-235) is used for the defense of Moscow. It became operational in 1995 and was preceded by the A-35 anti-ballistic missile system. The system uses Gorgon and Gazelle missiles previously armed with nuclear warheads. These missiles have been updated (2017) and use non-nuclear kinetic interceptors instead, to intercept any incoming ICBMs. + The Israeli Arrow 3 system entered operational service in 2017. It is designed for exo-atmosphere interception of ballistic missiles during the spaceflight portion of their trajectory, including those of ICBMs. It may also act as an anti-satellite weapon. + The Indian Prithvi Defence Vehicle Mark 2 has the capability to shoot down ICBMs. It has completed developmental trials and is awaiting the Indian government's clearance in order to be deployed. + The American Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, formerly known as National Missile Defense (NMD), was first tested in 1997 and had its first successful intercept test in 1999. Instead of using an explosive charge, it launches a hit-to-kill kinetic projectile to intercept an ICBM. The current GMD system is intended to shield the United States mainland against a limited nuclear attack by a rogue state such as North Korea. GMD does not have the ability to protect against an all-out nuclear attack from Russia, as there are currently 44 ground-based interceptors available to counter projectiles headed towards the US. (This interceptor count does not include the THAAD, or Aegis, or Patriot defenses which provide shorter range defence against incoming projectiles.) + The Aegis ballistic missile defense-equipped SM-3 Block II-A missile demonstrated it can shoot down an ICBM target on 16 Nov 2020. +In a November 2020 test, the US launched a surrogate ICBM from Kwajalein Atoll toward Hawaii in the general direction of the continental US, which triggered a satellite warning to a Colorado Air Force base. In response, launched a missile which destroyed the surrogate ICBM, while still outside the atmosphere. + +American plans for Central European site + +During 1993, a symposium was held by western European nations to discuss potential future ballistic missile defence programs. In the end, the council recommended deployment of early warning and surveillance systems as well as regionally controlled defence systems. +During spring 2006 reports about negotiations between the United States and Poland as well as the Czech Republic were published. +The plans propose the installation of a latest generation ABM system with a radar site in the Czech Republic and the launch site in Poland. The system was announced to be aimed against ICBMs from Iran and North Korea. This caused harsh comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) security conference during spring 2007 in Munich. Other European ministers commented that any change of strategic weapons should be negotiated on NATO level and not 'unilaterally' [sic, actually bilaterally] between the U.S. and other states (although most strategic arms reduction treaties were between the Soviet Union and U.S., not NATO). The German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a Social Democrat, expressed severe concerns about the way in which the U.S. had conveyed its plans to its European partners and criticised the U.S. administration for not having consulted Russia prior to announcing its endeavours to deploy a new missile defence system in Central Europe. According to a July 2007 survey, a majority of Poles were opposed to hosting a component of the system in Poland. +By 28 July 2016 Missile Defense Agency planning and agreements had clarified enough to give more details about the Aegis Ashore sites in Romania (2014) and Poland (2018). + +Current tactical systems + +People's Republic of China + +Historical Project 640 +Project 640 had been the PRC's indigenous effort to develop ABM capability. The Academy of Anti-Ballistic Missile & Anti-Satellite was established from 1969 for the purpose of developing Project 640. The project was to involve at least three elements, including the necessary sensors and guidance/command system, the Fan Ji (FJ) missile interceptor, and the XianFeng missile-intercepting cannon. The FJ-1 had completed two successful flight tests during 1979, while the low-altitude interceptor FJ-2 completed some successful flight tests using scaled prototypes. A high altitude FJ-3 interceptor was also proposed. Despite the development of missiles, the programme was slowed down due to financial and political reasons. It was finally closed down during 1980 under a new leadership of Deng Xiaoping as it was seemingly deemed unnecessary after the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty between the Soviet Union and the United States and the closure of the US Safeguard ABM system. + +Operational Chinese system +In March 2006, China tested an interceptor system comparable to the U.S. Patriot missiles. + +China has acquired and is license-producing the S-300PMU-2/S-300PMU-1 series of terminal ABM-capable SAMs. China-produced HQ-9 SAM system may possess terminal ABM capabilities. PRC Navy's operating modern air-defense destroyers known as the Type 052C Destroyer and Type 051C Destroyer are armed with naval HQ-9 missiles. + +The HQ-19, similar to the THAAD, was first tested in 2003, and subsequently a few more times, including in November 2015. The HQ-29, a counterpart to the MIM-104F PAC-3, was first tested in 2011. + +Surface-to-air missiles that supposedly have some terminal ABM capability (as opposed to midcourse capability): + HQ-29 + HQ-19 + HQ-18 + HQ-15 + +Development of midcourse ABM in China +The technology and experience from the successful anti-satellite test using a ground-launched interceptor during January 2007 was immediately applied to current ABM efforts and development. + +China carried out a land-based anti-ballistic missile test on 11 January 2010. The test was exoatmospheric and done in midcourse phase and with a kinetic kill vehicle. China is the second country after US that demonstrated intercepting ballistic missile with a kinetic kill vehicle, the interceptor missile was a SC-19. The sources suggest the system is not operationally deployed as of 2010. + +On 27 January 2013, China did another anti ballistic missile test. According to the Chinese Defence Ministry, the missile launch is defensive in character and is not aimed against any countries. Experts hailed China's technological breakthrough because it is difficult to intercept ballistic missiles that have reached the highest point and speed in the middle of their course. Only two countries, including the US, have successfully conducted such a test in the past decade. + +On 4 February 2021, China successfully conducted mid-course intercept anti-ballistic missile test. Military analysts indicates that the test and dozens done before reflects China's improvement in the area. + +Rumored midcourse missiles: + DN-3 + DN-2 + DN-1 + HQ-26 + +France and Italy + +The Aster is a family of missiles jointly developed by France and Italy. The Aster 30 variants are capable of ballistic missile defense. An export customer, the United Kingdom also operates the Aster 30 Block 0. + +On 18 October 2010, France announced a successful tactical ABM test of the Aster 30 missile and on 1 December 2011 a successful interception of a Black Sparrow ballistic target missile. The s in French and Italian service, the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers, and the French and Italian FREMM-class frigates are all armed with PAAMS (or variants of it) integrating Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles. France and Italy are developing a new variant, the Aster 30 Block II, which can destroy ballistic missiles up to a maximum range of . It will incorporate a kill vehicle warhead. + +India + +India has an active ABM development effort using indigenously developed and integrated radars, and indigenous missiles. In November 2006, India successfully conducted the PADE (Prithvi Air Defence Exercise) in which an anti-ballistic missile, called the Prithvi Air Defence (PAD), an exo-atmospheric (outside the atmosphere) interceptor system, intercepted a Prithvi-II ballistic missile. The PAD missile has the secondary stage of the Prithvi missile and can reach altitude of . During the test, the target missile was intercepted at a altitude. India became the fourth nation in the world after United States, Russia, and Israel to acquire such a capability and the third nation to acquire it using in-house research and development. On 6 December 2007, the Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile system was tested successfully. This missile is an endo-atmospheric interceptor with an altitude of . First reported in 2009, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is developing a new Prithvi interceptor missile code-named PDV. The PDV is designed to take out the target missile at altitudes above . The first PDV was successfully test fired on 27 April 2014. According to scientist V K Saraswat of the DRDO, the missiles will work in tandem to ensure a hit probability of 99.8 percent. On 15 May 2016, India successfully launched AAD renamed Ashwin from Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha. +As of 8 January 2020, the BMD programme has been completed and the Indian Air Force and the DRDO are awaiting government's final approval before the system is deployed to protect New Delhi and then Mumbai. After these two cities, it will be deployed in other major cities and regions. India has structured a five-layer missile shield for Delhi as of 9 June 2019: + +PAD and PDV are designed for mid-course interception, while AAD is for terminal phase interception. +Outermost BMD layer at endo- and exo-atmospheric altitudes (15–25 km, and 80–100 km) for 2000 km ranges +XRSAM and S-400 layer at ranges of 40, 120, 200, 250, 350 & 400 km +Barak-8 layer at ranges of 70–100 km +Akash, Akash-NG layer at ranges of 30–35 km +Surface to air missiles and gun systems as the inner-most ring of defense. Previously planned to acquire NASAMS-II. But Indian Air Force deterred by high cost is now looking at domestic alternative (potentially land-based VL-SRSAM). + +The current Phase-1 of the Indian ABM system can intercept ballistic missiles of range up to 2,000 km and the Phase-2 will increase it up to 5,000 km. + +Israel + +Arrow 2 + +The Arrow project was begun after the U.S. and Israel agreed to co-fund it on 6 May 1986. + +The Arrow ABM system was designed and constructed in Israel with financial support by the United States by a multibillion-dollar development program called "Minhelet Homa" (Wall Administration) with the participation of companies like Israel Military Industries, Tadiran and Israel Aerospace Industries. + +During 1998 the Israeli military conducted a successful test of their Arrow missile. Designed to intercept incoming missiles travelling at up to 2-mile/s (3 km/s), the Arrow is expected to perform much better than the Patriot did in the Gulf War. On 29 July 2004 Israel and the United States carried out a joint experiment in the US, in which the Arrow was launched against a real Scud missile. The experiment was a success, as the Arrow destroyed the Scud with a direct hit. During December 2005 the system was deployed successfully in a test against a replicated Shahab-3 missile. This feat was repeated on 11 February 2007. + +Arrow 3 + +The Arrow 3 system is capable of exo-atmosphere interception of ballistic missiles, including of ICBMs. It also acts as an anti-satellite weapon. + +Lieutenant General Patrick J. O'Reilly, Director of the US Missile Defense Agency, said: "The design of Arrow 3 promises to be an extremely capable system, more advanced than what we have ever attempted in the U.S. with our programs." + +On 10 December 2015 Arrow 3 scored its first intercept in a complex test designed to validate how the system can detect, identify, track and then discriminate real from decoy targets delivered into space by an improved Silver Sparrow target missile. According to officials, the milestone test paves the way toward low-rate initial production of the Arrow 3. + +David’s sling + +David's Sling (Hebrew: קלע דוד), also sometimes called Magic Wand (Hebrew: שרביט קסמים), is an Israel Defense Forces military system being jointly developed by the Israeli defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the American defense contractor Raytheon, designed to intercept tactical ballistic missiles, as well as medium- to long-range rockets and slower-flying cruise missiles, such as those possessed by Hezbollah, fired at ranges from 40 km to 300 km. It is designed with the aim of intercepting the newest generation of tactical ballistic missiles, such as Iskander. + +Japan + +Since 1998, when North Korea launched a Taepodong-1 missile over northern Japan, the Japanese have been jointly developing a new surface-to-air interceptor known as the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) with the US. Tests have been successful, and there are 11 locations that are planned for the PAC-3 to be installed. The approximate locations are near major air bases, like Kadena Air Base, and ammunition storage centers of the Japanese military. The exact location are not known to the public. A military spokesman said that tests had been done on two sites, one of them a business park in central Tokyo, and Ichigaya – a site not far from the Imperial Palace. +Along with the PAC-3, Japan has installed a US-developed ship-based anti-ballistic missile system, which was tested successfully on 18 December 2007. Japan has 4 destroyers of this type capable of carrying RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 and equipped with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. Japan is currently modifying another 4 destroyers so that they can take part of their defense force against ballistic missiles, bringing the total number to 8 ships. + +Soviet Union/Russian Federation + +The Moscow ABM defense system was designed with the aim of being able to intercept the ICBM warheads aimed at Moscow and other important industrial regions, and is based on: + A-35 Aldan + ABM-1 Galosh / 5V61 (decommissioned) + A-35M + ABM-1B (decommissioned) + A-135 Amur + ABM-3 Gazelle / 53T6 + ABM-4 Gorgon / 51T6 (decommissioned) + A–235 Nudol (In development) + +Apart from the main Moscow deployment, Russia has striven actively for intrinsic ABM capabilities of its SAM systems. + S-300P (SA-10) + S-300V/V4 (SA-12) + S-300PMU-1/2 (SA-20) + S-400 (SA-21) + S-500 Prometey (serial production began in 2021) + +United States + +In several tests, the U.S. military have demonstrated the feasibility of destroying long and short range ballistic missiles. Combat effectiveness of newer systems against 1950s tactical ballistic missiles seems very high, as the MIM-104 Patriot (PAC-1 and PAC-2) had a 100% success rate in Operation Iraqi Freedom. + +The U.S. Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System (Aegis BMD) uses RIM-161 Standard Missile 3, which hit a target going faster than ICBM warheads. On 16 November 2020 an SM-3 Block IIA interceptor successfully destroyed an ICBM in mid-course, under Link-16 Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC). + +The U.S. Army Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system began production in 2008. Its stated range as a short to intermediate ballistic missile interceptor means that it is not designed to hit midcourse ICBMs, which can reach terminal phase speeds of mach 8 or greater. The THAAD interceptor has a reported maximum speed of mach 8, and THAAD has repeatedly proven it can intercept descending exoatmospheric missiles in a ballistic trajectory. + +The U.S. Army Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system was developed by the Missile Defense Agency. It combines ground-based AN/FPS-132 Upgraded Early Warning Radar installations and mobile AN/TPY-2 X-band radars with 44 exoatmospheric interceptors stationed in underground silos around California and Alaska, to protect against low-count ICBM attacks from rogue states. Each Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) rocket carries an Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) kinetic kill interceptor, with 97% probability of intercept when four interceptors are launched at the target. + +Since 2004, the United States Army plans to replace Raytheon's Patriot missile (SAM) engagement control station (ECS), along with seven other forms of ABM defense command systems, with Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) designed to shoot down short, medium, and intermediate range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase by intercepting with a hit-to-kill approach. +Northrop Grumman was selected as the prime contractor in 2010; the Army spent $2.7 billion on the program between 2009 and 2020. IBCS engagement stations will support identification and tracking of targets using sensor fusion from disparate data streams, and selection of appropriate kill vehicles from available launcher systems. +In February 2022 THAAD radar and TFCC (THAAD Fire Control & Communication) demonstrated their interoperability with Patriot PAC-3 MSE missile launchers, engaging targets using both THAAD and Patriot interceptors. + +Kestrel eye is a cubesat swarm designed to produce a picture of a designated ground target, and to relay the picture to the ground Warfighter every 10 minutes. + +Republic of China + +Procurement of MIM-104 Patriot and indigenous Tien-Kung anti-ballistic missile systems. With the tense situations with China, Taiwan developed the Sky Bow (or Tien-Kung), this surface-to-air missile can intercept and destroy enemy aircraft and ballistic missiles. These system was created in partnership with Raytheon Technologies, using Lockheed Martin ADAR-HP as inspiration to create the Chang Bai S-band radar system. The missiles have a range of 200 km and was designed to take on fast moving vehicles with low radar cross-section. The latest variant of this system is the Sky Bow III (TK-3). + +South Korea +Since North Korea started developing its nuclear weapon program, South Korea has been under imminent danger. South Korea started its BDM program by acquiring 8 batteries of the MIM-104 Patriot (PAC-2) missiles from the United States. The PAC-2 was developed to destroy incoming aircraft and is now unreliable in defending a ballistic missile attack from North Korea, as they have developed further their nuclear program. As of 2018, South Korea decided to improve its defense system by upgrading to the PAC-3, which has a hit-to-kill capability against incoming missiles. The main reason that the South Korean anti-ballistic defense system is not very developed is because they have tried to developed their own, without help from other countries, since the beginning of the 1990's. The South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has confirmed that it has test launched the L-SAM system on February 2022. This particular missile has been in development since 2019 and is South Korea's next anti-ballistic missile generation. It is expected to have a range of 150 km and be able to intercept targets between 40 km and 100 km of altitude, and it can also be used as an aircraft interceptor. The L-SAM system is expected to be complete and ready to use in 2024. + +History + +1940s and 1950s + +The idea of destroying rockets before they can hit their target dates from the first use of modern missiles in warfare, the German V-1 and V-2 program of World War II. + +British fighters destroyed some V-1 "buzz bombs" in flight, although concentrated barrages of heavy anti-aircraft artillery had greater success. Under the lend-lease program, 200 US 90 mm AA guns with SCR-584 radars and Western Electric/Bell Labs computers were sent to the UK. These demonstrated a 95% success rate against V-1s that flew into their range. + +The V-2, the first true ballistic missile, has no known record of being destroyed in the air. SCR-584's could be used to plot the trajectories of the missiles and provide some warning, but were more useful in backtracking their ballistic trajectory and determining the rough launch locations. The Allies launched Operation Crossbow to find and destroy V-2s before launch, but these operations were largely ineffective. In one instance a Spitfire happened upon a V-2 rising through the trees, and fired on it with no effect. This led to allied efforts to capture launching sites in Belgium and the Netherlands. + +A wartime study by Bell Labs into the task of shooting down ballistic missiles in flight concluded it was not possible. In order to intercept a missile, one needs to be able to steer the attack onto the missile before it hits. A V-2's speed would require guns of effectively instantaneous reaction time, or some sort of weapon with ranges on the order of dozens of miles, neither of which appeared possible. This was, however, just before the emergence of high-speed computing systems. By the mid-1950s, things had changed considerably, and many forces worldwide were considering ABM systems. + +The American armed forces began experimenting with anti-missile missiles soon after World War II, as the extent of German research into rocketry became clear. Project Wizard began in 1946, with the aim of creating a missile capable of intercepting the V-2. + +But defences against Soviet long-range bombers took priority until 1957, when the Soviet Union demonstrated its advances in ICBM technology with the launch of Sputnik, the Earth's first artificial satellite. The US Army accelerated development of their LIM-49 Nike Zeus system in response. Zeus was criticized throughout its development program, especially from those within the US Air Force and nuclear weapons establishments who suggested it would be much simpler to build more nuclear warheads and guarantee mutually assured destruction. Zeus was eventually cancelled in 1963. + +In 1958, the U.S. sought to explore whether airbursting nuclear weapons might be used to ward off ICBMs. It conducted several test explosions of low-yield nuclear weapons – 1.7kt boosted fission W25 warheads – launched from ships to very high altitudes over the southern Atlantic Ocean. Such an explosion releases a burst of X-rays in the Earth's atmosphere, causing secondary showers of charged particles over an area hundreds of miles across. These can become trapped in the Earth' magnetic field, creating an artificial radiation belt. It was believed that this might be strong enough to damage warheads traveling through the layer. This proved not to be the case, but Argus returned key data about a related effect, the nuclear electromagnetic pulse (NEMP). + +Canada +Other countries were also involved in early ABM research. A more advanced project was at CARDE in Canada, which researched the main problems of ABM systems. A key problem with any radar system is that the signal is in the form of a cone, which spreads with distance from the transmitter. For long-distance interceptions like ABM systems, the inherent inaccuracy of the radar makes an interception difficult. CARDE considered using a terminal guidance system to address the accuracy concerns, and developed several advanced infrared detectors for this role. They also studied a number of missile airframe designs, a new and much more powerful solid rocket fuel, and numerous systems for testing it all. After a series of drastic budget reductions during the late 1950s the research ended. One offshoot of the project was Gerald Bull's system for inexpensive high-speed testing, consisting of missile airframes shot from a sabot round, which would later be the basis of Project HARP. Another was the CRV7 and Black Brant rockets, which used the new solid rocket fuel. + +Soviet Union + +The Soviet military had requested funding for ABM research as early as 1953, but were only given the go-ahead to begin deployment of such a system on 17 August 1956. Their test system, known simply as System A, was based on the V-1000 missile, which was similar to the early US efforts. The first successful test interception was carried out on 24 November 1960, and the first with a live warhead on 4 March 1961. In this test, a dummy warhead was released by a R-12 ballistic missile launched from the Kapustin Yar, and intercepted by a V-1000 launched from Sary-Shagan. The dummy warhead was destroyed by the impact of 16,000 tungsten-carbide spherical impactors 140 seconds after launch, at an altitude of . + +The V-1000 missile system was nonetheless considered not reliable enough and abandoned in favour of nuclear-armed ABMs. A much larger missile, the Fakel 5V61 (known in the west as Galosh), was developed to carry the larger warhead and carry it much further from the launch site. Further development continued, and the A-35 anti-ballistic missile system, designed to protect Moscow, became operational in 1971. A-35 was designed for exoatmospheric interceptions, and would have been highly susceptible to a well-arranged attack using multiple warheads and radar black-out techniques. + +A-35 was upgraded during the 1980s to a two-layer system, the A-135. The Gorgon (SH-11/ABM-4) long-range missile was designed to handle intercepts outside the atmosphere, and the Gazelle (SH-08/ABM-3) short-range missile endoatmospheric intercepts that eluded Gorgon. The A-135 system is considered to be technologically equivalent to the United States Safeguard system of 1975. + +American Nike-X and Sentinel +Nike Zeus failed to be a credible defence in an era of rapidly increasing ICBM counts due to its ability to attack only one target at a time. Additionally, significant concerns about its ability to successfully intercept warheads in the presence of high-altitude nuclear explosions, including its own, lead to the conclusion that the system would simply be too costly for the very low amount of protection it could provide. + +By the time it was cancelled in 1963, potential upgrades had been explored for some time. Among these were radars capable of scanning much greater volumes of space and able to track many warheads and launch several missiles at once. These, however, did not address the problems identified with radar blackouts caused by high-altitude explosions. To address this need, a new missile with extreme performance was designed to attack incoming warheads at much lower altitudes, as low as 20 km. The new project encompassing all of these upgrades was launched as Nike-X. + +The main missile was LIM-49 Spartan—a Nike Zeus upgraded for longer range and a much larger 5 megaton warhead intended to destroy enemy's warheads with a burst of x-rays outside the atmosphere. A second shorter-range missile called Sprint with very high acceleration was added to handle warheads that evaded longer-ranged Spartan. Sprint was a very fast missile (some sources claimed it accelerated to 8,000 mph (13 000 km/h) within 4 seconds of flight—an average acceleration of 90 g) and had a smaller W66 enhanced radiation warhead in the 1–3 kiloton range for in-atmosphere interceptions. + +The experimental success of Nike X persuaded the Lyndon B. Johnson administration to propose a thin ABM defense, that could provide almost complete coverage of the United States. In a September 1967 speech, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara referred to it as "Sentinel". McNamara, a private ABM opponent because of cost and feasibility (see cost-exchange ratio), claimed that Sentinel would be directed not against the Soviet Union's missiles (since the USSR had more than enough missiles to overwhelm any American defense), but rather against the potential nuclear threat of the People's Republic of China. + +In the meantime, a public debate over the merit of ABMs began. Difficulties that had already made an ABM system questionable for defending against an all-out attack. One problem was the Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) that would give little warning to the defense. Another problem was high altitude EMP (whether from offensive or defensive nuclear warheads) which could degrade defensive radar systems. + +When this proved infeasible for economic reasons, a much smaller deployment using the same systems was proposed, namely Safeguard (described later). + +Defense against MIRVs + +ABM systems were developed initially to counter single warheads launched from large intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The economics seemed simple enough; since rocket costs increase rapidly with size, the price of the ICBM launching a large warhead should always be greater than the much smaller interceptor missile needed to destroy it. In an arms race the defense would always win. + +In addition to the blast effect, the detonation of nuclear devices against attacking intercontinental ballistic missiles produces a neutron kill effect from the strong radiation emitted, and this neutralizes the warhead, or warheads, of the attacking missile. Most A.B.M. devices depend on neutron kill for their effectiveness. + +In practice, the price of the interceptor missile was considerable, due to its sophistication. The system had to be guided all the way to an interception, which demanded guidance and control systems that worked within and outside the atmosphere. Due to their relatively short ranges, an ABM missile would be needed to counter an ICBM wherever it might be aimed. That implies that dozens of interceptors are needed for every ICBM since warhead's targets couldn't be known in advance. This led to intense debates about the "cost-exchange ratio" between interceptors and warheads. + +Conditions changed dramatically in 1970 with the introduction of multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) warheads. Suddenly, each launcher was throwing not one warhead, but several. These would spread out in space, ensuring that a single interceptor would be needed for each warhead. This simply added to the need to have several interceptors for each warhead in order to provide geographical coverage. Now it was clear that an ABM system would always be many times more expensive than the ICBMs they defended against. + +Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 + +Technical, economic and political problems described resulted in the ABM treaty of 1972, which restricted the deployment of strategic (not tactical) anti-ballistic missiles. + +By the ABM treaty and a 1974 revision, each country was allowed to deploy a mere 100 ABMs to protect a single, small area. The Soviets retained their Moscow defences. The U.S. designated their ICBM sites near Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, where Safeguard was already under advanced development. The radar systems and anti-ballistic missiles were approximately 90 miles north/northwest of Grand Forks AFB, near Concrete, North Dakota. The missiles were deactivated in 1975. The main radar site (PARCS) is still used as an early warning ICBM radar, facing relative north. It is located at Cavalier Air Force Station, North Dakota. + +Brief use of Safeguard in 1975/1976 +The U.S. Safeguard system, which utilized the nuclear-tipped LIM-49A Spartan and Sprint missiles, in the short operational period of 1975/1976, was the second counter-ICBMs system in the world. Safeguard protected only the main fields of US ICBMs from attack, theoretically ensuring that an attack could be responded to with a US launch, enforcing the mutually assured destruction principle. + +SDI experiments in the 1980s + +The Reagan-era Strategic Defense Initiative (often referred to as "Star Wars"), along with research into various energy-beam weaponry, brought new interest in the area of ABM technologies. + +SDI was an extremely ambitious program to provide a total shield against a massive Soviet ICBM attack. The initial concept envisioned large sophisticated orbiting laser battle stations, space-based relay mirrors, and nuclear-pumped X-ray laser satellites. Later research indicated that some planned technologies such as X-ray lasers were not feasible with then-current technology. As research continued, SDI evolved through various concepts as designers struggled with the difficulty of such a large complex defense system. SDI remained a research program and was never deployed. Several post-SDI technologies are used by the present Missile Defense Agency (MDA). + +Lasers originally developed for the SDI plan are in use for astronomical observations. Used to ionize gas in the upper atmosphere, they provide telescope operators with a target to calibrate their instruments. + +Tactical ABMs deployed in 1990s +The Israeli Arrow missile system was tested initially during 1990, before the first Gulf War. The Arrow was supported by the United States throughout the 1990s. + +The Patriot was the first deployed tactical ABM system, although it was not designed from the outset for that task and consequently had limitations. It was used during the 1991 Gulf War to attempt to intercept Iraqi Scud missiles. Post-war analyses show that the Patriot was much less effective than initially thought because of its radar and control system's inability to discriminate warheads from other objects when the Scud missiles broke up during reentry. + +Testing ABM technology continued during the 1990s with mixed success. After the Gulf War, improvements were made to several U.S. air defense systems. A new Patriot, PAC-3, was developed and tested—a complete redesign of the PAC-2 deployed during the war, including a totally new missile. The improved guidance, radar and missile performance improves the probability of kill over the earlier PAC-2. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Patriot batteries engaged 100% of enemy TBM's within their engagement territory. Of these engagements, 8 of them were verified as kills by multiple independent sensors; the remaining was listed as a probable kill due to lack of independent verification. Patriot was involved in three friendly fire incidents: two incidents of Patriot shootings at coalition aircraft and one of U.S. aircraft shooting at a Patriot battery. + +A new version of the Hawk missile was tested during the early to mid-1990s and by the end of 1998 the majority of US Marine Corps Hawk systems were modified to support basic theater anti-ballistic missile capabilities. The MIM-23 Hawk missile is not operational in U.S. service since 2002, but is used by many other countries. + +Soon after the Gulf War, the Aegis Combat System was expanded to include ABM capabilities. The Standard missile system was also enhanced and tested for ballistic missile interception. During the late 1990s, SM-2 block IVA missiles were tested in a theater ballistic missile defense function. Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) systems have also been tested for an ABM role. In 2008, an SM-3 missile launched from the , successfully intercepted a non-functioning satellite. + +Brilliant Pebbles concept +Approved for acquisition by the Pentagon during 1991 but never realized, Brilliant Pebbles was a proposed space-based anti-ballistic system that was meant to avoid some of the problems of the earlier SDI concepts. Rather than use sophisticated large laser battle stations and nuclear-pumped X-ray laser satellites, Brilliant Pebbles consisted of a thousand very small, intelligent orbiting satellites with kinetic warheads. The system relied on improvements of computer technology, avoided problems with overly centralized command and control and risky, expensive development of large, complicated space defense satellites. +It promised to be much less expensive to develop and have less technical development risk. + +The name Brilliant Pebbles comes from the small size of the satellite interceptors and great computational power enabling more autonomous targeting. Rather than rely exclusively on ground-based control, the many small interceptors would cooperatively communicate among themselves and target a large swarm of ICBM warheads in space or in the late boost phase. Development was discontinued later in favor of a limited ground-based defense. + +Transformation of SDI into MDA, development of NMD/GMD +While the Reagan era Strategic Defense Initiative was intended to shield against a massive Soviet attack, during the early 1990s, President George H. W. Bush called for a more limited version using rocket-launched interceptors based on the ground at a single site. Such system was developed since 1992, was expected to become operational in 2010 and capable of intercepting small number of incoming ICBMs. First called the National Missile Defense (NMD), since 2002 it was renamed Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD). It was planned to protect all 50 states from a rogue missile attack. The Alaska site provides more protection against North Korean missiles or accidental launches from Russia or China, but is likely less effective against missiles launched from the Middle East. The Alaska interceptors may be augmented later by the naval Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System or by ground-based missiles in other locations. + +During 1998, Defense Secretary William Cohen proposed spending an additional $6.6 billion on intercontinental ballistic missile defense programs to build a system to protect against attacks from North Korea or accidental launches from Russia or China. + +In terms of organization, during 1993 SDI was reorganized as the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. In 2002, it was renamed to Missile Defense Agency (MDA). + +21st century +On 13 June 2002, the United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and recommenced developing missile defense systems that would have formerly been prohibited by the bilateral treaty. The action was stated as needed to defend against the possibility of a missile attack conducted by a rogue state. The next day, the Russian Federation dropped the START II agreement, intended to completely ban MIRVs. + +The Lisbon Summit of 2010 saw the adoption of a NATO program that was formed in response to the threat of a rapid increase of ballistic missiles from potentially unfriendly regimes, though no specific region, state, or country was formally mentioned. This adoption came from the recognition of territorial missile defense as a core alliance objective. At this time, Iran was seen as the likely aggressor that eventually led to the adoption of this ABM system, as Iran has the largest missile arsenal of the Middle East, as well as a space program. From this summit, NATO's ABM system was potentially seen as a threat by Russia, who felt that their ability to retaliate any perceived nuclear threats would be degraded. To combat this, Russia proposed that any ABM system enacted by NATO must be universal to operate, cover the entirety of the European continent, and not upset any nuclear parity. The United States actively sought NATO involvement in the creation of an ABM system, and saw an Iranian threat as a sufficient reason to warrant its creation. The United States also had plans to create missile defense facilities, but NATO officials feared that it would have provided protection to Europe, it would have detracted from the responsibility of NATO for collective defense. The officials also argued the potential prospect of U.S-commanded operation system that would work in conjunction with the Article 5 defense of NATO. + +On 15 December 2016, the US Army SMDC had a successful test of a U.S. Army Zombie Pathfinder rocket, to be used as a target for exercising various anti-ballistic missile scenarios. The rocket was launched as part of NASA's sounding rocket program, at White Sands Missile Range. + +In November 2020, the US successfully destroyed a dummy ICBM. The ICBM was launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the general direction of Hawaii, triggering a satellite warning to a Colorado Air Force base, which then contacted the . The ship launched a SM-3 Block IIA missile to destroy the US dummy, still outside the atmosphere. + +See also + 2010 Chinese anti-ballistic missile test + Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System + Atmospheric entry + Command systems in the United States Army + Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Programme + Kinetic kill vehicle + Missile defense + Anti-torpedo torpedoes + Multiple Kill Vehicle + National Missile Defense + Nuclear disarmament + Nuclear proliferation + Nuclear warfare + Safeguard/Sentinel ABM system + Spartan (missile) + Sprint (missile) + Terminal High Altitude Area Defense + +Notes + +Citations + +General sources + Murdock, Clark A. (1974), Defense Policy Formation: A Comparative Analysis of the McNamara Era. SUNY Press. + +Further reading + Laura Grego and David Wright, "Broken Shield: Missiles designed to destroy incoming nuclear warheads fail frequently in tests and could increase global risk of mass destruction", Scientific American, vol. 320, no. no. 6 (June 2019), pp. 62–67. "Current U.S. missile defense plans are being driven largely by technology, politics and fear. Missile defenses will not allow us to escape our vulnerability to nuclear weapons. Instead large-scale developments will create barriers to taking real steps toward reducing nuclear risks—by blocking further cuts in nuclear arsenals and potentially spurring new deployments." (p. 67.) + +External links + +Article on Missile Threat Shift to the Black Sea region +Video of the Endo-Atmospheric Interceptor missile system test by India +Video of the Exo-Atmospheric interceptor missile system test by India +Center for Defense Information +Federation of American Scientists +MissileThreat.com +Stanley R. Mickelson Safeguard complex +History of U.S. Air Defense Systems + + +Missile defense +Missile types +Russian inventions +Surface-to-air missiles + + +Events + +Pre-1600 + 708 – Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 708). + 870 – The city of Melite surrenders to an Aghlabid army following a siege, putting an end to Byzantine Malta. +1009 – Mainz Cathedral suffers extensive damage from a fire, which destroys the building on the day of its inauguration. +1219 – The Battle of Fariskur occurs during the Fifth Crusade. +1261 – Pope Urban IV succeeds Pope Alexander IV, becoming the 182nd pope. +1315 – Battle of Montecatini: The army of the Republic of Pisa, commanded by Uguccione della Faggiuola, wins a decisive victory against the joint forces of the Kingdom of Naples and the Republic of Florence despite being outnumbered. +1350 – Battle of Winchelsea (or Les Espagnols sur Mer): The English naval fleet under King Edward III defeats a Castilian fleet of 40 ships. +1475 – The Treaty of Picquigny ends a brief war between the kingdoms of France and England. +1484 – Pope Innocent VIII succeeds Pope Sixtus IV. +1498 – Vasco da Gama decides to depart Calicut and return to the Kingdom of Portugal. +1521 – The Ottoman Turks capture Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade). +1526 – Battle of Mohács: The Ottoman Turks led by Suleiman the Magnificent defeat and kill the last Jagiellonian king of Hungary and Bohemia. +1541 – The Ottoman Turks capture Buda, the capital of the Hungarian Kingdom. +1588 – Toyotomi Hideyoshi issues a nationwide sword hunting ordinance, disarming the peasantry so as to firmly separate the samurai and commoner classes, prevent peasant uprisings, and further centralise his own power. + +1601–1900 +1728 – The city of Nuuk in Greenland is founded as the fort of Godt-Haab by the royal governor Claus Paarss. +1741 – The eruption of Oshima–Ōshima and the Kampo tsunami: At least 2,000 people along the Japanese coast drown in a tsunami caused by the eruption of Oshima. +1756 – Frederick the Great attacks Saxony, beginning the Seven Years' War in Europe. +1758 – The Treaty of Easton establishes the first American Indian reservation, at Indian Mills, New Jersey, for the Lenape. +1778 – American Revolutionary War: British and American forces battle indecisively at the Battle of Rhode Island. +1779 – American Revolutionary War: American forces battle and defeat the British and Iroquois forces at the Battle of Newtown. +1786 – Shays' Rebellion, an armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers, begins in response to high debt and tax burdens. +1807 – British troops under Sir Arthur Wellesley defeat a Danish militia outside Copenhagen in the Battle of Køge. +1825 – Portuguese and Brazilian diplomats sign the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro, which has Portugal recognise Brazilian independence, formally ending the Brazilian war of independence. The treaty will be ratified by the King of Portugal three months later. +1831 – Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction. +1842 – Treaty of Nanking signing ends the First Opium War. +1861 – American Civil War: The Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries gives Federal forces control of Pamlico Sound. +1869 – The Mount Washington Cog Railway opens, making it the world's first mountain-climbing rack railway. +1871 – Emperor Meiji orders the abolition of the han system and the establishment of prefectures as local centers of administration. (Traditional Japanese date: July 14, 1871). +1885 – Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first internal combustion motorcycle, the Reitwagen. +1898 – The Goodyear tire company is founded in Akron, Ohio. + +1901–present +1903 – The , the last of the five s, is launched. +1907 – The Quebec Bridge collapses during construction, killing 75 workers. +1910 – The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910, also known as the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, becomes effective, officially starting the period of Japanese rule in Korea. +1911 – Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with European Americans, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California. + 1911 – The Canadian Naval Service becomes the Royal Canadian Navy. +1912 – A typhoon strikes China, killing at least 50,000 people. +1914 – World War I: Start of the Battle of St. Quentin in which the French Fifth Army counter-attacked the invading Germans at Saint-Quentin, Aisne. +1915 – US Navy salvage divers raise , the first U.S. submarine sunk in an accident. +1916 – The United States passes the Philippine Autonomy Act. +1918 – World War I: Bapaume taken by the New Zealand Division in the Hundred Days Offensive. +1930 – The last 36 remaining inhabitants of St Kilda are voluntarily evacuated to other parts of Scotland. +1941 – World War II: Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is occupied by Nazi Germany following an occupation by the Soviet Union. +1943 – World War II: German-occupied Denmark scuttles most of its navy; Germany dissolves the Danish government. +1944 – World War II: Slovak National Uprising takes place as 60,000 Slovak troops turn against the Nazis. +1948 – Northwest Airlines Flight 421 crashes in Fountain City, Wisconsin, killing all 37 aboard. +1949 – Soviet atomic bomb project: The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, known as First Lightning or Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. +1950 – Korean War: British Commonwealth Forces Korea arrives to bolster the US presence. +1952 – American experimental composer John Cage’s 4’33” premieres at Maverick Concert Hall, played by American pianist David Tudor. +1958 – United States Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado. +1960 – Air France Flight 343 crashes on approach to Yoff Airport in Senegal, killing all 63 aboard. +1965 – The Gemini V spacecraft returns to Earth, landing in the Atlantic Ocean. +1966 – The Beatles perform their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. + 1966 – Leading Egyptian thinker Sayyid Qutb is executed for plotting the assassination of President Gamal Abdel Nasser. +1970 – Chicano Moratorium against the Vietnam War, East Los Angeles, California. Police riot kills three people, including journalist Rubén Salazar. +1975 – El Tacnazo: Peruvian Prime Minister Francisco Morales Bermúdez carries out a coup d’état in the city of Tacna, forcing the sitting President of Peru, Juan Velasco Alvarado, to resign and assuming his place as the new President. +1982 – The synthetic chemical element Meitnerium, atomic number 109, is first synthesized at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany. +1987 – Odaeyang mass suicide: Thirty-three individuals linked to a religious cult are found dead in the attic of a cafeteria in Yongin, South Korea. Investigators attribute their deaths to a murder-suicide pact. +1991 – Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union suspends all activities of the Soviet Communist Party. + 1991 – Libero Grassi, an Italian businessman from Palermo, is killed by the Sicilian Mafia after taking a solitary stand against their extortion demands. +1996 – Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801, a Tupolev Tu-154, crashes into a mountain on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, killing all 141 aboard. +1997 – Netflix is launched as an internet DVD rental service. + 1997 – At least 98 villagers are killed by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria GIA in the Rais massacre, Algeria. +1998 – Eighty people are killed when Cubana de Aviación Flight 389 crashes during a rejected takeoff from the Old Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito, Ecuador. +2001 – Four people are killed when Binter Mediterráneo Flight 8261 crashes into the N-340 highway near Málaga Airport. +2003 – Sayed Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia Muslim leader in Iraq, is assassinated in a terrorist bombing, along with nearly 100 worshippers as they leave a mosque in Najaf. +2005 – Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, killing up to 1,836 people and causing $125 billion in damage. +2012 – At least 26 Chinese miners are killed and 21 missing after a blast in the Xiaojiawan coal mine, located at Panzhihua, Sichuan Province. + 2012 – The XIV Paralympic Games open in London, England, United Kingdom. +2022 – Russo-Ukrainian War: Ukraine begins its southern counteroffensive in the Kherson Oblast, eventually culminating in the liberation of the city of Kherson. + +Births + +Pre-1600 + 979 – Otto (or Eudes), French nobleman (d. 1045) +1321 – John of Artois, French nobleman (d. 1387) +1347 – John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English nobleman and soldier (d. 1375) +1434 – Janus Pannonius, Hungarian bishop and poet (d. 1472) +1514 – García Álvarez de Toledo, 4th Marquis of Villafranca, Spanish noble and admiral (d. 1577) +1534 – Nicholas Pieck, Dutch Franciscan friar and martyr (d. 1572) +1597 – Henry Gage, Royalist officer in the English Civil War (d. 1645) + +1601–1900 +1619 – Jean-Baptiste Colbert, French economist and politician, Controller-General of Finances (d. 1683) +1628 – John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1701) +1632 – John Locke, English physician and philosopher (d. 1704) +1724 – Giovanni Battista Casti, Italian poet and author (d. 1803) +1725 – Charles Townshend, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1767) +1728 – Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony, electress of Bavaria (d. 1797) +1756 – Jan Śniadecki, Polish mathematician and astronomer (d. 1830) +1756 – Count Heinrich von Bellegarde, Austrian general and politician (d. 1845) +1772 – James Finlayson, Scottish Quaker (d. 1852) +1773 – Aimé Bonpland, French botanist and explorer (d. 1858) +1777 – Hyacinth, Russian religious leader, founded Sinology (d. 1853) +1780 – Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, French painter and illustrator (d. 1867) +1792 – Charles Grandison Finney, American minister and author (d. 1875) +1805 – Frederick Denison Maurice, English priest, theologian, and author (d. 1872) +1809 – Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., American physician and author (d. 1894) +1810 – Juan Bautista Alberdi, Argentinian theorist and diplomat (d. 1884) +1813 – Henry Bergh, American activist, founded the ASPCA (d. 1888) +1842 – Alfred Shaw, English cricketer, rugby player, and umpire (d. 1907) +1843 – David B. Hill, American lawyer and politician, 29th Governor of New York (d. 1910) +1844 – Edward Carpenter, English anthologist and poet (d. 1929) +1857 – Sandford Schultz, English cricketer (d. 1937) +1861 – Byron G. Harlan, American singer (d. 1936) +1862 – Andrew Fisher, Scottish-Australian politician and diplomat, 5th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1928) + 1862 – Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949) +1871 – Albert François Lebrun, French engineer and politician, 15th President of France (d. 1950) +1875 – Leonardo De Lorenzo, Italian flute player and educator (d. 1962) +1876 – Charles F. Kettering, American engineer and businessman, founded Delco Electronics (d. 1958) + 1876 – Kim Koo, South Korean politician, 6th President of The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (d. 1949) +1879 – Han Yong-un, Korean independence activist, reformer, and poet (d. 1944) +1887 – Jivraj Narayan Mehta, Indian physicians and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Gujarat (d. 1978) +1888 – Salme Dutt, Estonian-English politician (d. 1964) +1890 – Peder Furubotn, Norwegian Communist and anti-Nazi Resistance leader (d. 1975) +1891 – Marquis James, American journalist and author (d. 1955) +1898 – Preston Sturges, American director and producer (d. 1959) + +1901–present +1901 – Aurèle Joliat, Canadian ice hockey player and referee (d. 1986) +1904 – Werner Forssmann, German physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979) +1905 – Dhyan Chand, Indian field hockey player (d. 1979) + 1905 – Arndt Pekurinen, Finnish activist (d. 1941) +1910 – Vivien Thomas, American surgeon and academic (d. 1985) +1911 – John Charnley, British orthopedic surgeon (d. 1982) +1912 – Sohn Kee-chung, South Korean runner (d. 2002) + 1912 – Barry Sullivan, American actor (d. 1994) + 1912 – Wolfgang Suschitzky, Austrian-English cinematographer and photographer (d. 2016) +1913 – Len Butterfield, New Zealand cricketer (d. 1999) +1913 – Jackie Mitchell, American baseball pitcher (d. 1987) +1915 – Ingrid Bergman, Swedish actress (d. 1982) + 1915 – Nathan Pritikin, American nutritionist and author (d. 1985) +1916 – Luther Davis, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 2008) +1917 – Isabel Sanford, American actress (d. 2004) +1920 – Otis Boykin, American inventor and engineer (d. 1982) + 1920 – Charlie Parker, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1955) + 1920 – Herb Simpson, American baseball player (d. 2015) +1922 – Arthur Anderson, American actor (d. 2016) + 1922 – Richard Blackwell, American actor, fashion designer, and critic (d. 2008) + 1922 – John Edward Williams, American author and educator (d. 1994) +1923 – Richard Attenborough, English actor, director, and producer (d. 2014) +1924 – Dinah Washington, American singer and pianist (d. 1963) +1926 – Helene Ahrweiler, Greek historian and academic + 1926 – Donn Fendler, American author and speaker (d. 2016) + 1926 – Betty Lynn, American actress (d. 2021) +1927 – Jimmy C. Newman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2014) +1928 – Herbert Meier, Swiss author and translator (d. 2018) +1929 – Thom Gunn, English-American poet and academic (d. 2004) +1930 – Jacques Bouchard, Canadian businessman (d. 2006) + 1930 – Carlos Loyzaga, Filipino basketball player and coach (d. 2016) +1931 – Stelios Kazantzidis, Greek singer and guitarist (d. 2001) + 1931 – Lise Payette, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2018) +1933 – Sorel Etrog, Romanian-Canadian sculptor, painter, and illustrator (d. 2014) + 1933 – Arnold Koller, Swiss politician +1934 – Dimitris Papamichael, Greek actor and director (d. 2004) +1935 – Hugo Brandt Corstius, Dutch linguist and author (d. 2014) + 1935 – William Friedkin, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2023) + 1935 – László Garai, Hungarian psychologist and scholar (d. 2019) +1936 – John McCain, American captain and politician (d. 2018) +1937 – James Florio, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 49th Governor of New Jersey (d. 2022) +1938 – Elliott Gould, American actor and producer + 1938 – Angela Huth, English journalist and author + 1938 – Christian Müller, German footballer and manager + 1938 – Robert Rubin, American lawyer and politician, 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury +1939 – Jolán Kleiber-Kontsek, Hungarian discus thrower and shot putter + 1939 – Joel Schumacher, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2020) +1940 – James Brady, American politician and activist, 15th White House Press Secretary (d. 2014) + 1940 – Gary Gabelich, American race car driver (d. 1984) +1941 – Robin Leach, English journalist and television host (d. 2018) +1942 – James Glennon, American cinematographer (d. 2006) + 1942 – Gottfried John, German actor (d. 2014) + 1942 – Sterling Morrison, American singer and guitarist (d. 1995) +1943 – Mohamed Amin, Kenyan photographer and journalist (d. 1996) + 1943 – Dick Halligan, American pianist and composer + 1943 – Arthur B. McDonald, Canadian astrophysicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate +1945 – Chris Copping, English singer-songwriter and guitarist + 1945 – Wyomia Tyus, American sprinter +1946 – Bob Beamon, American long jumper + 1946 – Francine D. Blau, American economist and academic + 1946 – Demetris Christofias, Cypriot businessman and politician, 6th President of Cyprus (d. 2019) + 1946 – Warren Jabali, American basketball player (d. 2012) + 1946 – Giorgio Orsoni, Italian lawyer and politician, 17th Mayor of Venice +1947 – Temple Grandin, American ethologist, academic, and author + 1947 – James Hunt, English race car driver and sportscaster (d. 1993) +1948 – Robert S. Langer, American chemical engineer, entrepreneur, and academic +1949 – Stan Hansen, American wrestler and actor + 1949 – Darnell Hillman, American basketball player +1950 – Doug DeCinces, American baseball player + 1950 – Frank Henenlotter, American director and screenwriter + 1950 – Dave Reichert, American soldier and politician +1951 – Geoff Whitehorn, English singer-songwriter and guitarist +1952 – Karen Hesse, American author and poet + 1952 – Dave Malone, American singer-songwriter and guitarist + 1952 – Don Schlitz, American Hall of Fame country music songwriter + 1952 – Deborah Van Valkenburgh, American actress +1953 – David Boaz, American businessman and author + 1953 – Richard Harding, English rugby player + 1953 – James Quesada, Nicaraguan-American anthropologist and academic +1954 – Michael P. Kube-McDowell, American journalist, author, and academic +1955 – Diamanda Galás, American singer-songwriter and pianist + 1955 – Jack Lew, American lawyer and politician, 25th White House Chief of Staff +1956 – Mark Morris, American dancer and choreographer + 1956 – Eddie Murray, American football player + 1956 – Charalambos Xanthopoulos, Greek footballer + 1956 – Steve Yarbrough, American novelist and short story writer +1957 – Jerry D. Bailey, American jockey and sportscaster + 1957 – Grzegorz Ciechowski, Polish singer-songwriter, film music composer (d. 2001) +1958 – Lenny Henry, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter + 1958 – Michael Jackson, American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, and actor (d. 2009) +1959 – Rebecca De Mornay, American actress + 1959 – Ramón Díaz, Argentinian footballer and manager + 1959 – Ray Elgaard, Canadian football player + 1959 – Chris Hadfield, Canadian colonel, pilot, and astronaut + 1959 – Eddi Reader, Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer + 1959 – Timothy Shriver, American businessman and activist + 1959 – Stephen Wolfram, English-American physicist and mathematician + 1959 – Nagarjuna, Indian film actor, Producer and Businessman +1960 – Todd English, American chef and author + 1960 – Tony MacAlpine, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer +1961 – Carsten Fischer, German field hockey player + 1961 – Rodney McCray, American basketball player +1962 – Carl Banks, American football player and sportscaster + 1962 – Hiroki Kikuta, Japanese game designer and composer + 1962 – Ian James Corlett, Canadian voice actor, writer, producer and author + 1962 – Simon Thurley, English historian and academic +1963 – Elizabeth Fraser, Scottish singer-songwriter +1964 – Perri "Pebbles" Reid, American dance-pop and urban contemporary singer-songwriter + 1964 – Zisis Tsekos, Greek footballer +1965 – Will Perdue, American basketball player and sportscaster + 1965 – Geir-Inge Sivertsen, Norwegian politician and engineer, Norwegian Minister of Fisheries and Seafood +1966 – Jörn Großkopf, German footballer and manager +1967 – Neil Gorsuch, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States + 1967 – Anton Newcombe, American singer-songwriter and guitarist +1968 – Meshell Ndegeocello, German-American singer-songwriter +1969 – Joe Swail, Northern Irish snooker player + 1969 – Jennifer Crittenden, American screenwriter and producer + 1969 – Lucero, Mexican singer, songwriter, actress, and television host +1971 – Henry Blanco, Venezuelan baseball player and coach + 1971 – Alex Griffin, English bass player + 1971 – Carla Gugino, American actress +1972 – Amanda Marshall, Canadian singer-songwriter + 1972 – Bae Yong-joon, South Korean actor +1973 – Vincent Cavanagh, English singer and guitarist + 1973 – Olivier Jacque, French motorcycle racer +1974 – Kumi Tanioka, Japanese keyboard player and composer +1975 – Dante Basco, American actor + 1975 – Kyle Cook, American singer-songwriter and guitarist +1976 – Stephen Carr, Irish footballer + 1976 – Phil Harvey, English manager + 1976 – Kevin Kaesviharn, American football player + 1976 – Georgios Kalaitzis, Greek basketball player + 1976 – Pablo Mastroeni, Argentine-American soccer player and manager + 1976 – Jon Dahl Tomasson, Danish footballer and manager +1977 – Cayetano, Greek DJ and producer + 1977 – Devean George, American basketball player + 1977 – John Hensley, American actor + 1977 – John Patrick O'Brien, American soccer player + 1977 – Roy Oswalt, American baseball player + 1977 – Charlie Pickering, Australian comedian and radio host + 1977 – Aaron Rowand, American baseball player and sportscaster +1978 – Volkan Arslan, German-Turkish footballer + 1978 – Celestine Babayaro, Nigerian footballer +1979 – Stijn Devolder, Belgian cyclist + 1979 – Kristjan Rahnu, Estonian decathlete + 1979 – Ryan Shealy, American baseball player +1980 – Chris Simms, American football player + 1980 – David West, American basketball player +1981 – Martin Erat, Czech ice hockey player + 1981 – Geneviève Jeanson, Canadian cyclist + 1981 – Jay Ryan, New Zealand-Australian actor and producer +1982 – Ruhila Adatia-Sood, Kenyan journalist and radio host (d. 2013) + 1982 – Carlos Delfino, Argentinian-Italian basketball player + 1982 – Yakhouba Diawara, French basketball player + 1982 – Vincent Enyeama, Nigerian footballer +1983 – Jennifer Landon, American actress + 1983 – Antti Niemi, Finnish ice hockey player + 1983 – Anthony Recker, American baseball player +1986 – Hajime Isayama, Japanese illustrator + 1986 – Lea Michele, American actress and singer +1987 – Tony Kane, Irish footballer +1989 – Charlotte Ritchie, English actress +1990 – Jakub Kosecki, Polish footballer + 1990 – Chris Taylor, American baseball player + 1990 – Patrick van Aanholt, Dutch footballer +1991 – Néstor Araujo, Mexican footballer + 1991 – Deshaun Thomas, American basketball player +1992 – Mallu Magalhães, Brazilian singer-songwriter + 1992 – Noah Syndergaard, American baseball player +1993 – Liam Payne, English singer-songwriter +1994 – Ysaline Bonaventure, Belgian tennis player + +Deaths + +Pre-1600 + 886 – Basil I, Byzantine emperor (b. 811) + 939 – Wang Jipeng, Chinese emperor of Min + 939 – Li Chunyan, Chinese empress + 956 – Fu the Elder, Chinese empress + 979 – Abu Taghlib, Hamdanid emir +1021 – Minamoto no Yorimitsu, Japanese nobleman (b. 948) +1046 – Gerard of Csanád Venetian monk and Hungarian bishop (b.980) +1093 – Hugh I, duke of Burgundy (b. 1057) +1123 – Eystein I, king of Norway (b. 1088) +1135 – Al-Mustarshid, Abbasid caliph (b. 1092) +1159 – Bertha of Sulzbach, Byzantine empress +1298 – Eleanor of England, Countess of Bar, English princess (b. 1269) +1315 – Peter Tempesta, Italian nobleman (b. 1291) + 1315 – Charles of Taranto, Italian nobleman (b. 1296) +1395 – Albert III, duke of Austria (b. 1349) +1442 – John V, duke of Brittany (b. 1389) +1499 – Alesso Baldovinetti, Florentine painter (b. 1427) +1523 – Ulrich von Hutten, Lutheran reformer (b. 1488) +1526 – Louis II, king of Hungary and Croatia (b. 1506) + 1526 – Pál Tomori Hungarian archbishop and soldier (b. 1475) +1533 – Atahualpa, Inca emperor (b. 1497) +1542 – Cristóvão da Gama, Portuguese commander (b. 1516) + +1601–1900 +1604 – Hamida Banu Begum, Mughal empress (b. 1527) +1657 – John Lilburne, English activist (b. 1614) +1712 – Gregory King, English genealogist, engraver, and statistician (b. 1648) +1749 – Matthias Bel, Hungarian pastor and polymath (b. 1684) +1769 – Edmond Hoyle, English author and educator (b. 1672) +1780 – Jacques-Germain Soufflot, French architect, co-designed The Panthéon (b. 1713) +1799 – Pius VI, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1717) +1844 – Edmund Ignatius Rice, Irish missionary and educator, founded the Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers (b. 1762) +1856 – Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, English author and activist (b. 1778) +1866 – Tokugawa Iemochi, Japanese shōgun (b. 1846) +1877 – Brigham Young, American religious leader, 2nd President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1801) +1889 – Stefan Dunjov, Bulgarian colonel (b. 1815) +1891 – Pierre Lallement, French businessman, invented the bicycle (b. 1843) +1892 – William Forbes Skene, Scottish historian and author (b. 1809) + +1901–present +1904 – Murad V, Ottoman sultan (b. 1840) +1911 – Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, 6th Nizam of Hyderabad (b. 1866) +1917 – George Huntington Hartford, American businessman (b. 1833) +1930 – William Archibald Spooner, English priest and author (b. 1844) +1931 – David T. Abercrombie, American businessman, co-founded Abercrombie & Fitch (b. 1867) +1932 – Raymond Knister, Canadian poet and author (b. 1899) +1944 – Attik, Greek pianist and composer (b. 1885) +1946 – Adolphus Busch III, American businessman (b. 1891) + 1946 – John Steuart Curry, American painter and academic (b. 1897) +1951 – Sydney Chapman, English economist and civil servant (b. 1871) +1952 – Anton Piëch, Austrian lawyer (b. 1894) +1958 – Marjorie Flack, American author and illustrator (b. 1897) +1966 – Sayyid Qutb, Egyptian theorist, author, and poet (b. 1906) +1968 – Ulysses S. Grant III, American general (b. 1881) +1971 – Nathan Freudenthal Leopold Jr., American murderer (b. 1904) +1972 – Lale Andersen, German singer-songwriter (b. 1905) +1975 – Éamon de Valera, Irish soldier and politician, 3rd President of Ireland (b. 1882) +1977 – Jean Hagen, American actress (b. 1923) + 1977 – Brian McGuire, Australian race car driver (b. 1945) +1979 – Gertrude Chandler Warner, American author and educator (b. 1890) +1981 – Lowell Thomas, American journalist and author (b. 1892) +1982 – Ingrid Bergman, Swedish actress (b. 1915) + 1982 – Lehman Engel, American composer and conductor (b. 1910) +1985 – Evelyn Ankers, British-American actress (b. 1918) +1987 – Archie Campbell, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1914) + 1987 – Lee Marvin, American actor (b. 1924) +1989 – Peter Scott, English explorer and painter (b. 1909) +1990 – Manly Palmer Hall, Canadian-American mystic and author (b. 1901) +1991 – Libero Grassi, Italian businessman (b. 1924) +1992 – Félix Guattari, French philosopher and theorist (b. 1930) +1995 – Frank Perry, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1930) +2000 – Shelagh Fraser, English actress (b. 1922) + 2000 – Willie Maddren, English footballer and manager (b. 1951) + 2000 – Conrad Marca-Relli, American-Italian painter and academic (b. 1913) +2001 – Graeme Strachan, Australian singer-songwriter & television personality (b. 1952) + 2001 – Francisco Rabal, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1926) +2002 – Lance Macklin, English race car driver (b. 1919) +2003 – Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, Iraqi politician (b. 1939) + 2003 – Patrick Procktor, English painter and academic (b. 1936) +2004 – Hans Vonk, Dutch conductor (b. 1942) +2007 – James Muir Cameron Fletcher, New Zealand businessman (b. 1914) + 2007 – Richard Jewell, American police officer (b. 1962) + 2007 – Pierre Messmer, French civil servant and politician, 154th Prime Minister of France (b. 1916) + 2007 – Alfred Peet, Dutch-American businessman, founded Peet's Coffee & Tea (b. 1920) +2008 – Geoffrey Perkins, English actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1953) + 2008 – Michael Schoenberg, American geophysicist and theorist (b. 1939) +2011 – Honeyboy Edwards, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1915) + 2011 – Junpei Takiguchi, Japanese voice actor (b. 1931) +2012 – Ruth Goldbloom, Canadian academic and philanthropist, co-founded Pier 21 (b. 1923) + 2012 – Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, English historian and author (b. 1953) + 2012 – Shoshichi Kobayashi, Japanese-American mathematician and academic (b. 1932) + 2012 – Anne McKnight, American soprano (b. 1924) + 2012 – Les Moss, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1925) + 2012 – Sergei Ovchinnikov, Russian volleyball player and coach (b. 1969) +2013 – Joan L. Krajewski, American lawyer and politician (b. 1934) + 2013 – Medardo Joseph Mazombwe, Zambian cardinal (b. 1931) + 2013 – Bruce C. Murray, American geologist and academic, co-founded The Planetary Society (b. 1931) +2014 – Octavio Brunetti, Argentinian pianist and composer (b. 1975) + 2014 – Björn Waldegård, Swedish race car driver (b. 1943) +2016 – Gene Wilder, American stage and screen comic actor, screenwriter, film director, and author (b. 1933) +2018 – James Mirrlees, Scottish economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1936) + 2018 – Paul Taylor, American choreographer (b. 1930) +2021 – Ed Asner, American actor (b. 1929) + 2021 – Lee "Scratch" Perry, Jamaican reggae producer (b. 1936) + 2021 – Jacques Rogge, Olympic sailor and Orthopedic Surgeon who served as the 8th President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1942) +2023 – Mike Enriquez (b. 1951), Filipino broadcaster + +Holidays and observances +Christian feast day: +Adelphus of Metz +Beheading of St. John the Baptist +Eadwold of Cerne +Euphrasia Eluvathingal (Syro-Malabar Catholic Church) +John Bunyan (Episcopal Church) +Sabina +Vitalis, Sator and Repositus +August 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) +International Day against Nuclear Tests +Miners' Day (Ukraine) +Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Ukraine (Ukraine) +Municipal Police Day (Poland) +National Sports Day (India) +Slovak National Uprising Anniversary (Slovakia) +Telugu Language Day (India) + +References + +External links + + + + + +Days of the year +August + + +Events + +Pre-1600 +70 – Titus ends the siege of Jerusalem after destroying Herod's Temple. +1282 – Peter III of Aragon lands at Trapani to intervene in the War of the Sicilian Vespers. +1363 – The five-week Battle of Lake Poyang begins, in which the forces of two Chinese rebel leaders (Chen Youliang and Zhu Yuanzhang) meet to decide who will supplant the Yuan dynasty. +1464 – Pope Paul II succeeds Pope Pius II as the 211th pope. +1574 – Guru Ram Das becomes the Fourth Sikh Guru/Master. +1590 – Tokugawa Ieyasu enters Edo Castle. (Traditional Japanese date: August 1, 1590) +1594 – King James VI of Scotland holds a masque at the baptism of Prince Henry at Stirling Castle. + +1601–1900 +1721 – The Great Northern War between Sweden and Russia ends in the Treaty of Nystad. +1727 – Anne, eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain, is given the title Princess Royal. +1757 – Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf: Russian force under Field Marshal Stepan Fyodorovich Apraksin beats a smaller Prussian force commanded by Field Marshal Hans von Lehwaldt, during the Seven Years' War. +1791 – sinks after having run aground on the outer Great Barrier Reef the previous day. +1799 – The entire Dutch fleet is captured by British forces under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby and Admiral Sir Charles Mitchell during the War of the Second Coalition. +1800 – Gabriel Prosser postpones a planned slave rebellion in Richmond, Virginia, but is arrested before he can make it happen. +1813 – First Battle of Kulm: French forces are defeated by an Austrian-Prussian-Russian alliance. + 1813 – Creek War: Fort Mims massacre: Creek "Red Sticks" kill over 500 settlers (including over 250 armed militia) in Fort Mims, north of Mobile, Alabama. +1835 – Australia: Melbourne, Victoria is founded. +1836 – The city of Houston is founded by Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen. +1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Richmond: Confederates under Edmund Kirby Smith rout Union forces under General William "Bull" Nelson. +1873 – Austrian explorers Julius von Payer and Karl Weyprecht discover the archipelago of Franz Josef Land in the Arctic Sea. +1896 – Philippine Revolution: After Spanish victory in the Battle of San Juan del Monte, eight provinces in the Philippines are declared under martial law by the Spanish Governor-General Ramón Blanco y Erenas. + +1901–present +1909 – Burgess Shale fossils are discovered by Charles Doolittle Walcott. +1914 – World War I: Germans defeat the Russians in the Battle of Tannenberg. +1916 – Ernest Shackleton completes the rescue of all of his men stranded on Elephant Island in Antarctica. +1917 – Vietnamese prison guards led by Trịnh Văn Cấn mutiny at the Thái Nguyên penitentiary against local French authority. +1918 – Fanni Kaplan shoots and seriously injures Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, which along with the assassination of Bolshevik senior official Moisei Uritsky days earlier, prompts the decree for Red Terror. +1922 – Battle of Dumlupınar: The final battle in the Greco-Turkish War ("Turkish War of Independence"). +1936 – The RMS Queen Mary wins the Blue Riband by setting the fastest transatlantic crossing. +1940 – The Second Vienna Award reassigns the territory of Northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary. +1941 – The Tighina Agreement, a treaty regarding administration issues of the Transnistria Governorate, is signed between Germany and Romania. +1942 – World War II: The Battle of Alam el Halfa begins. +1945 – The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong comes to an end. + 1945 – The Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Douglas MacArthur lands at Atsugi Air Force Base. + 1945 – The Allied Control Council, governing Germany after World War II, comes into being. +1959 – South Vietnamese opposition figure Phan Quang Dan was elected to the National Assembly despite soldiers being bussed in to vote for President Ngo Dinh Diem's candidate. +1962 – Japan conducts a test of the NAMC YS-11, its first aircraft since World War II and its only successful commercial aircraft from before or after the war. +1963 – The Moscow–Washington hotline between the leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union goes into operation. +1967 – Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African American Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. +1974 – A Belgrade–Dortmund express train derails at the main train station in Zagreb killing 153 passengers. + 1974 – A powerful bomb explodes at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries headquarters in Marunouchi, Tokyo. Eight are killed, 378 are injured. Eight left-wing activists are arrested on May 19, 1975, by Japanese authorities. + 1974 – The Third World Population Conference ends in Bucharest, Romania. At the end of the ceremony, the UN-Romanian Demographic Centre is inaugurated. +1981 – President Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar of Iran are assassinated in a bombing committed by the People's Mujahedin of Iran. +1983 – Aeroflot Flight 5463 crashes into Dolan Mountain while approaching Almaty International Airport in present-day Kazakhstan, killing all 90 people on board. +1984 – STS-41-D: The Space Shuttle Discovery takes off on its maiden voyage. +1991 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Azerbaijan declares independence from Soviet Union. +1992 – The 11-day Ruby Ridge standoff ends with Randy Weaver surrendering to federal authorities. +1995 – Bosnian War: NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces. +1998 – Second Congo War: Armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and their Angolan and Zimbabwean allies recapture Matadi and the Inga dams in the western DRC from RCD and Rwandan troops. +2002 – Rico Linhas Aéreas Flight 4823 crashes on approach to Rio Branco International Airport, killing 23 of the 31 people on board. +2008 – A Conviasa Boeing 737 crashes into Illiniza Volcano in Ecuador, killing all three people on board. +2014 – Prime Minister of Lesotho Tom Thabane flees to South Africa as the army allegedly stages a coup. +2019 – A huge accident during the 2019 F2 Spa Feature Race caused young driver Anthoine Hubert to die after sustaining major injuries. +2021 – The last remaining American troops leave Afghanistan, ending U.S. involvement in the war. +2023 – Gabonese coup d'état: After Ali Bongo Ondimba's reelection, a military coup ousted him, ending 56 years of Bongo family rule in Gabon. + +Births + +Pre-1600 +1334 – Peter of Castile (d. 1369) +1574 – Albert Szenczi Molnár, Hungarian writer and translator (d. 1634) + +1601–1900 +1609 – Sir Alexander Carew, 2nd Baronet, English politician (d. 1644) + 1609 – Artus Quellinus the Elder, Flemish sculptor (d. 1668) +1627 – Itō Jinsai, Japanese philosopher (d. 1705) +1716 – Capability Brown, English landscape architect (d. 1783) +1720 – Samuel Whitbread, English brewer and politician, founded Whitbread (d. 1796) +1748 – Jacques-Louis David, French painter and illustrator (d. 1825) +1768 – Joseph Dennie, American author and journalist (d. 1812) +1797 – Mary Shelley, English novelist and playwright (d. 1851) +1812 – Agoston Haraszthy, Hungarian-American businessman, founded Buena Vista Winery (d. 1869) +1818 – Alexander H. Rice, American businessman and politician, 30th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1895) +1839 – Gulstan Ropert, French-American bishop and missionary (d. 1903) +1842 – Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna of Russia (d. 1849) +1844 – Emily Ruete/Salama bint Said, also called Sayyida Salme, a Princess of Zanzibar and Oman (d. 1924) +1848 – Andrew Onderdonk, American surveyor and contractor (d. 1905) +1850 – Marcelo H. del Pilar, Filipino journalist and lawyer (d. 1896) +1852 – Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, Dutch chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1911) + 1852 – J. Alden Weir, American painter and academic (d. 1919) +1855 – Evelyn De Morgan, English painter (d. 1919) +1856 – Carl David Tolmé Runge, German mathematician, physicist, and spectroscopist (d. 1927) +1858 – Ignaz Sowinski, Galician architect (d. 1917) +1860 – Isaac Levitan, Russian painter and illustrator (d. 1900) +1870 – Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia (d. 1891) +1871 – Ernest Rutherford, New Zealand-English physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937) +1883 – Theo van Doesburg, Dutch artist (d. 1931) +1884 – Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971) +1885 – Tedda Courtney, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1957) +1887 – Paul Kochanski, Polish violinist and composer (d. 1934) +1890 – Samuel Frederick Henry Thompson, English captain and pilot (d. 1918) +1893 – Huey Long, American lawyer and politician, 40th Governor of Louisiana (d. 1935) +1896 – Raymond Massey, Canadian-American actor and playwright (d. 1983) +1898 – Shirley Booth, American actress and singer (d. 1992) + +1901–present +1901 – John Gunther, American journalist and author (d. 1970) + 1901 – Roy Wilkins, American journalist and activist (d. 1981) +1903 – Bhagwati Charan Verma, Indian author (d. 1981) +1906 – Joan Blondell, American actress and singer (d. 1979) + 1906 – Olga Taussky-Todd, Austrian mathematician (d. 1995) +1907 – Leonor Fini, Argentinian painter, illustrator, and author (d. 1996) + 1907 – Bertha Parker Pallan, American archaeologist (d. 1978) + 1907 – John Mauchly, American physicist and co-founder of the first computer company (d. 1980) +1908 – Fred MacMurray, American actor (d. 1991) +1909 – Virginia Lee Burton, American author and illustrator (d. 1968) +1910 – Roger Bushell, South African-English soldier and pilot (d. 1944) +1912 – Edward Mills Purcell, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997) + 1912 – Nancy Wake, New Zealand-English captain (d. 2011) +1913 – Richard Stone, English economist and statistician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991) +1915 – Princess Lilian, Duchess of Halland (d. 2013) + 1915 – Robert Strassburg, American composer, conductor, and educator (d. 2003) +1916 – Shailendra, Pakistani-Indian songwriter (d. 1968) +1917 – Denis Healey, English soldier and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 2015) + 1917 – Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia (d. 1992) +1918 – Harold Atcherley, English businessman (d. 2017) + 1918 – Billy Johnson, American baseball player (d. 2006) + 1918 – Ted Williams, American baseball player and manager (d. 2002) +1919 – Maurice Hilleman, American microbiologist and vaccinologist (d. 2005) + 1919 – Wolfgang Wagner, German director and manager (d. 2010) + 1919 – Kitty Wells, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2012) +1920 – Arnold Green, Estonian soldier and politician (d. 2011) +1922 – Lionel Murphy, Australian jurist and politician, 22nd Attorney-General of Australia (d. 1986) + 1922 – Regina Resnik, American soprano and actress (d. 2013) +1923 – Barbara Ansell, English physician and author (d. 2001) + 1923 – Charmian Clift, Australian journalist and author (d. 1969) + 1923 – Vic Seixas, American tennis player +1924 – Kenny Dorham, American singer-songwriter and trumpet player (d. 1972) + 1924 – Lajos Kisfaludy, Hungarian chemist and engineer (d. 1988) +1925 – Laurent de Brunhoff, French author and illustrator + 1925 – Donald Symington, American actor (d. 2013) +1926 – Daryl Gates, American police officer, created the D.A.R.E. Program (d. 2010) +1927 – Geoffrey Beene, American fashion designer (d. 2004) + 1927 – Bill Daily, American actor and comedian (d. 2018) + 1927 – Piet Kee, Dutch organist and composer (d. 2018) +1928 – Lloyd Casner, American race car driver (d. 1965) + 1928 – Harvey Hart, Canadian director and producer (d. 1989) + 1928 – Johnny Mann, American singer-songwriter and conductor (d. 2014) +1929 – Guy de Lussigny, French painter and sculptor (d. 2001) + 1929 – Ian McNaught-Davis, English mountaineer and television host (d. 2014) +1930 – Warren Buffett, American businessman and philanthropist + 1930 – Noel Harford, New Zealand cricketer and basketball player (d. 1981) +1931 – Jack Swigert, American pilot and astronaut (d. 1982) +1933 – Don Getty, Canadian football player and politician, 11th Premier of Alberta (d. 2016) +1934 – Antonio Cabangon Chua, Filipino media mogul and businessman (d. 2016) +1935 – John Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2001) + 1935 – Alexandra Bellow, Romanian-American mathematician +1936 – Peter North, English scholar and academic +1937 – Bruce McLaren, New Zealand race car driver and engineer, founded the McLaren racing team (d. 1970) +1938 – Murray Gleeson, Australian lawyer and judge, 11th Chief Justice of Australia +1939 – Elizabeth Ashley, American actress + 1939 – John Peel, English radio host and producer (d. 2004) +1941 – Ignazio Giunti, Italian race car driver (d. 1971) + 1941 – Ben Jones, American actor and politician + 1941 – Sue MacGregor, English journalist and radio host + 1941 – John McNally, English singer and guitarist +1942 – Jonathan Aitken, Irish-British journalist and politician, Minister for Defence Procurement + 1942 – John Kani, South African actor + 1942 – Pervez Sajjad, Pakistani cricketer +1943 – Tal Brody, American-Israeli basketball player and coach + 1943 – Robert Crumb, American illustrator + 1943 – Colin Dann, English author + 1943 – Nigel Hall, English sculptor and academic + 1943 – Jean-Claude Killy, French skier + 1943 – David Maslanka, American composer and academic (d. 2017) +1944 – Frances Cairncross, English economist, journalist, and academic + 1944 – Freek de Jonge, Dutch singer and comedian + 1944 – Molly Ivins, American journalist and author (d. 2007) + 1944 – Tug McGraw, American baseball player (d. 2004) + 1944 – Alex Wyllie, New Zealand rugby player and coach +1946 – Queen Anne-Marie of Greece + 1946 – Peggy Lipton, American model and actress (d. 2019) +1947 – Allan Rock, Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations +1948 – Lewis Black, American comedian, actor, and author + 1948 – Fred Hampton, American activist and revolutionary, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (d. 1969) + 1948 – Victor Skumin, Russian psychiatrist, psychologist, and academic +1949 – Ted Ammon, American financier and banker (d. 2001) + 1949 – Don Boudria, Canadian public servant and politician, 2nd Canadian Minister for International Cooperation +1950 – Antony Gormley, English sculptor and academic +1951 – Timothy Bottoms, American actor + 1951 – Gediminas Kirkilas, Lithuanian politician, 11th Prime Minister of Lithuania + 1951 – Jim Paredes, Filipino singer-songwriter and actor + 1951 – Dana Rosemary Scallon, Irish singer and activist +1952 – Simon Bainbridge, English composer and educator (d. 2021) + 1952 – Wojtek Fibak, Polish tennis player +1953 – Ron George, American businessman and politician + 1953 – Lech Majewski, Polish director, producer, and screenwriter + 1953 – Horace Panter, English bass player + 1953 – Robert Parish, American basketball player +1954 – Alexander Lukashenko, Belarusian marshal and politician, 1st President of Belarus + 1954 – Ravi Shankar Prasad, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Communications and IT + 1954 – David Paymer, American actor and director +1955 – Jamie Moses, English-American guitarist +1956 – Frank Conniff, American actor, producer, and screenwriter +1957 – Gerald Albright, American musician +1958 – Karen Buck, Northern Irish politician + 1958 – Fran Fraschilla, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster + 1958 – Muriel Gray, Scottish journalist and author + 1958 – Martin Jackson, English drummer + 1958 – Anna Politkovskaya, Russian journalist and activist (d. 2006) + 1958 – Peter Tunks, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster +1959 – Mark "Jacko" Jackson, Australian footballer, actor, and singer +1960 – Ben Bradshaw, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport + 1960 – Gary Gordon, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1993) + 1960 – Guy A. Lepage, Canadian comedian and producer +1962 – Ricky Sanders, American football player + 1962 – Craig Whittaker, English businessman and politician +1963 – Dave Brockie, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2014) + 1963 – Michael Chiklis, American actor, director, and producer + 1963 – Sabine Oberhauser, Austrian physician and politician (d. 2017) + 1963 – Phil Mills, Welsh race car driver +1964 – Gavin Fisher, English engineer and designer + 1964 – Ra Luhse, Estonian architect +1966 – Peter Cunnah, Northern Irish singer-songwriter and producer + 1966 – Joann Fletcher, English historian and academic + 1966 – Michael Michele, American actress +1967 – Frederique van der Wal, Dutch model and actress + 1967 – Justin Vaughan, New Zealand cricketer +1968 – Diran Adebayo, English author and critic + 1968 – Vladimir Malakhov, Russian ice hockey player +1969 – Vladimir Jugović, Serbian footballer + 1969 – Dimitris Sgouros, Greek pianist and composer +1970 – Carlo Checchinato, Italian rugby player and manager + 1970 – Paulo Sousa, Portuguese footballer and manager + 1970 – Michael Wong, Malaysian-Chinese singer-songwriter +1971 – Lars Frederiksen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist + 1971 – Julian Smith, Scottish politician +1972 – Cameron Diaz, American model, actress, and producer + 1972 – Pavel Nedvěd, Czech footballer +1973 – Lisa Ling, American journalist and author +1974 – Javier Otxoa, Spanish cyclist (d. 2018) +1975 – Radhi Jaïdi, Tunisian footballer and coach +1976 – Mike Koplove, American baseball player +1977 – Shaun Alexander, American football player + 1977 – Marlon Byrd, American baseball player + 1977 – Raúl Castillo, American actor + 1977 – Michael Gladis, American actor + 1977 – Kamil Kosowski, Polish footballer + 1977 – Félix Sánchez, American-Dominican runner and hurdler +1978 – Sinead Kerr, Scottish figure skater + 1978 – Cliff Lee, American baseball player +1979 – Juan Ignacio Chela, Argentinian tennis player + 1979 – Leon Lopez, English singer-songwriter and actor + 1979 – Scott Richmond, Canadian baseball player +1980 – Roberto Hernández, Dominican baseball player + 1980 – Justin Mortelliti, American actor and singer-songwriter +1981 – Germán Legarreta, Puerto Rican-American actor + 1981 – Adam Wainwright, American baseball player +1982 – Will Davison, Australian race car driver + 1982 – Andy Roddick, American tennis player +1983 – Emmanuel Culio, Argentinian footballer + 1983 – Gustavo Eberto, Argentinian footballer (d. 2007) + 1983 – Jun Matsumoto, Japanese singer, dancer, and actor + 1983 – Simone Pepe, Italian footballer + 1983 – Tian Qin, Chinese canoe racer + 1983 – Marco Vianello, Italian footballer +1984 – Anthony Ireland, Zimbabwean cricketer + 1984 – Joe Staley, American football player + 1984 – Michael Grant Terry, American actor +1985 – Duane Brown, American football player + 1985 – Richard Duffy, Welsh footballer + 1985 – Joe Inoue, American singer-songwriter + 1985 – Leisel Jones, Australian swimmer + 1985 – Éva Risztov, Hungarian swimmer + 1985 – Steven Smith, Scottish footballer + 1985 – Eamon Sullivan, Australian swimmer + 1985 – Anna Ushenina, Ukrainian chess player + 1985 – Holly Weston, English actress +1986 – Theo Hutchcraft, English singer-songwriter + 1986 – Lelia Masaga, New Zealand rugby player + 1986 – Ryan Ross, American singer-songwriter and guitarist + 1986 – Zafer Yelen, Turkish footballer +1987 – Johanna Braddy, American actress + 1987 – Tania Foster, English singer-songwriter +1988 – Ernests Gulbis, Latvian tennis player +1989 – Simone Guerra, Italian footballer + 1989 – Ronald Huth, Paraguayan footballer + 1989 – Bebe Rexha, American singer-songwriter +1991 – Seriki Audu, Nigerian footballer (d. 2014) + 1991 – Jacqueline Cako, American tennis player + 1991 – Liam Cooper, Scottish footballer +1992 – Jessica Henwick, British actress +1994 – Monika Povilaitytė, Lithuanian volleyball player + 1994 – Heo Young-ji, South Korean singer + 1994 – Kwon So-hyun, South Korean singer-songwriter and actress +1996 – Mikal Bridges, American basketball player + 1996 – Trevor Jackson, American actor and singer-songwriter +2002 – Fábio Carvalho, Portuguese footballer + +Deaths + +Pre-1600 + 526 – Theodoric the Great, Italian ruler (b. 454) + 832 – Cui Qun, Chinese chancellor (b. 772) +1131 – Hervey le Breton, bishop of Bangor and Ely +1181 – Pope Alexander III (b. c. 1100–1105) +1329 – Khutughtu Khan Kusala, Chinese emperor (b. 1300) +1428 – Emperor Shōkō of Japan (b. 1401) +1483 – Louis XI of France (b. 1423) +1500 – Victor, Duke of Münsterberg and Opava, Count of Glatz (b. 1443) +1580 – Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (b. 1528) + +1601–1900 +1604 – John Juvenal Ancina, Italian Oratorian and bishop (b. 1545) +1619 – Shimazu Yoshihiro, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1535) +1621 – Bahāʾ al-dīn al-ʿĀmilī, co-founder of Isfahan School of Islamic Philosophy (b. 1547) +1751 – Christopher Polhem, Swedish physicist and engineer (b. 1661) +1773 – Peshwa Narayan Rao, Prime Minister of Maratha Empire (b. 1755, assassinated) +1856 – Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English lawyer and author (b. 1811) +1879 – John Bell Hood, American general (b. 1831) +1886 – Ferris Jacobs, Jr., American general and politician (b. 1836) +1896 – Aleksey Lobanov-Rostovsky, Russian politician and diplomat, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Russia (b. 1824) + +1901–present +1906 – Hans Auer, Swiss-Austrian architect and educator, designed the Federal Palace of Switzerland (b. 1847) +1907 – Richard Mansfield, American actor and manager (b. 1857) +1908 – Alexander P. Stewart, American general (b. 1821) +1928 – Wilhelm Wien, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1864) +1935 – Henri Barbusse, French journalist and author (b. 1873) + 1935 – Namık İsmail, Turkish painter and educator (b. 1890) +1936 – Ronald Fellowes, 2nd Baron Ailwyn, English peer (b. 1886) +1938 – Max Factor, Sr., Polish-born American make-up artist and businessman, founded the Max Factor Company (b. 1877) +1940 – J. J. Thomson, English physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856) +1941 – Peder Oluf Pedersen, Danish physicist and engineer (b. 1874) +1943 – Eddy de Neve, Indonesian-Dutch footballer and lieutenant (b. 1885) + 1943 – Eustáquio van Lieshout, Dutch priest and missionary (b. 1890) +1945 – Alfréd Schaffer, Hungarian footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1893) +1946 – Konstantin Rodzaevsky, Russian lawyer (b. 1907) +1947 – Gunnar Sommerfeldt, Danish actor and director (b. 1890) +1948 – Alice Salomon, German-American social reformer (b. 1872) +1949 – Arthur Fielder, English cricketer (b. 1877) +1951 – Konstantin Märska, Estonian director and cinematographer (b. 1896) +1954 – Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster, Italian cardinal (b. 1880) +1961 – Cristóbal de Losada y Puga, Peruvian mathematician (b. 1894) + 1961 – Charles Coburn, American actor (b. 1877) +1963 – Guy Burgess, English-Soviet spy (b. 1911) +1964 – Salme Dutt, Estonian-English lawyer and politician (b. 1888) +1967 – Ad Reinhardt, American painter, illustrator, and academic (b. 1913) +1968 – William Talman, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1915) +1970 – Del Moore, American comedian and actor (b. 1916) + 1970 – Abraham Zapruder, American clothing manufacturer, witness to the assassination of John F. Kennedy (b. 1905) +1971 – Ali Hadi Bara, Iranian-Turkish sculptor (b. 1906) +1979 – Jean Seberg, American actress (b. 1938) +1981 – Vera-Ellen, American actress and dancer (b. 1921) + 1981 – Mohammad-Ali Rajai, Iranian politician, 2nd President of Iran (b. 1933) +1985 – Taylor Caldwell, English-American author (b. 1900) +1988 – Jack Marshall, New Zealand colonel, lawyer and politician, 28th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1912) +1989 – Seymour Krim, American journalist and critic (b. 1922) +1990 – Bernard D. H. Tellegen, Dutch engineer and academic (b. 1900) +1991 – Cyril Knowles, English footballer and manager (b. 1944) + 1991 – Vladimír Padrůněk, Czech bass player (b. 1952) + 1991 – Jean Tinguely, Swiss painter and sculptor (b. 1925) +1993 – Richard Jordan, American actor (b. 1938) +1994 – Lindsay Anderson, English director and screenwriter (b. 1923) +1995 – Fischer Black, American economist and academic (b. 1938) + 1995 – Sterling Morrison, American guitarist and singer (b. 1942) +1996 – Christine Pascal, French actress, director, and screenwriter (b. 1953) +1999 – Reindert Brasser, Dutch discus thrower (b. 1912) + 1999 – Raymond Poïvet, French illustrator (b. 1910) +2001 – Govan Mbeki, ANC activist and father of President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki (b. 1910) +2002 – J. Lee Thompson, English-Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1914) +2003 – Charles Bronson, American actor and soldier (b. 1921) + 2003 – Donald Davidson, American philosopher and academic (b. 1917) +2004 – Fred Lawrence Whipple, American astronomer and academic (b. 1906) +2006 – Robin Cooke, Baron Cooke of Thorndon, New Zealand lawyer and judge (b. 1926) + 2006 – Glenn Ford, Canadian-American actor and producer (b. 1916) + 2006 – Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911) +2007 – Michael Jackson, English author and journalist (b. 1942) + 2007 – Charles Vanik, American soldier and politician (b. 1918) +2008 – Brian Hambly, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1937) + 2008 – Killer Kowalski, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer (b. 1926) +2009 – Klaus-Peter Hanisch, German footballer (b. 1952) +2010 – J. C. Bailey, American wrestler (b. 1983) + 2010 – Alain Corneau, French director and screenwriter (b. 1943) + 2010 – Myrtle Edwards, Australian cricketer and softball player (b. 1921) + 2010 – Francisco Varallo, Argentinian footballer (b. 1910) +2013 – William C. Campbell, American golfer (b. 1923) + 2013 – Howie Crittenden, American basketball player and coach (b. 1933) + 2013 – Allan Gotthelf, American philosopher and academic (b. 1942) + 2013 – Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1939) + 2013 – Leo Lewis, American football player and coach (b. 1933) +2014 – Charles Bowden, American non-fiction author, journalist and essayist (b. 1945) + 2014 – Bipan Chandra, Indian historian and academic (b. 1928) + 2014 – Igor Decraene, Belgian cyclist (b. 1996) + 2014 – Andrew V. McLaglen, English-American director and producer (b. 1920) + 2014 – Felipe Osterling, Peruvian lawyer and politician (b. 1932) +2015 – Wes Craven, American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1939) + 2015 – Edward Fadeley, American lawyer and politician (b. 1929) + 2015 – M. M. Kalburgi, Indian scholar, author, and academic (b. 1938) + 2015 – Marvin Mandel, American lawyer and politician, 56th Governor of Maryland (b. 1920) + 2015 – Oliver Sacks, English-American neurologist, author, and academic (b. 1933) +2017 – Louise Hay, American motivational author (b. 1926) + 2017 – Skip Prokop, Canadian drummer, guitarist and keyboardist (b. 1943) +2019 – Valerie Harper, American actress and writer (b. 1939) +2022 – Mikhail Gorbachev, 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union. (b. 1931) + +Holidays and observances + Christian feast day: + Alexander of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodoxy) + Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster + Blessed Eustáquio van Lieshout + Blessed Stephen Nehmé (Maronite Church / Catholic Church) + Charles Chapman Grafton (Episcopal Church) + Fantinus + Felix and Adauctus + Fiacre + Jeanne Jugan + Narcisa de Jesús + Pammachius + August 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) + Constitution Day (Kazakhstan) + Constitution Day (Turks and Caicos Islands) + Independence Day (Tatarstan, Russia not formally recognized) + International Day of the Disappeared + International Whale Shark Day + Popular Consultation Day (East Timor) + Saint Rose of Lima's Day (Peru) + Victory Day (Turkey) + +References + +External links + + + + + +Days of the year +August +The acre ( ) is a unit of land area used in the British imperial and the United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square yards, or 43,560 square feet, and approximately 4,047 m2, or about 40% of a hectare. Based upon the international yard and pound agreement of 1959, an acre may be declared as exactly 4,046.8564224 square metres. The acre is sometimes abbreviated ac but is usually spelled out as the word "acre". + +Traditionally, in the Middle Ages, an acre was conceived of as the area of land that could be ploughed by one man using a team of 8 oxen in one day. + +The acre is still a statutory measure in the United States. Both the international acre and the US survey acre are in use, but they differ by only four parts per million (see below). The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land. + +The acre is commonly used in many current and former Commonwealth of Nations countries by custom only. In a few, it continues as a statute measure, although since 2010 not in the UK, and not since decades ago in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. In many of those where it is not a statute measure, it is still lawful to "use for trade" if given as supplementary information and is not used for land registration. + +Description +One acre equals (0.0015625) square mile, 4,840 square yards, 43,560 square feet, or about (see below). While all modern variants of the acre contain 4,840 square yards, there are alternative definitions of a yard, so the exact size of an acre depends upon the particular yard on which it is based. Originally, an acre was understood as a strip of land sized at forty perches (660 ft, or 1 furlong) long and four perches (66 ft) wide; this may have also been understood as an approximation of the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plough in one day (a furlong being "a furrow long"). A square enclosing one acre is approximately 69.57 yards, or 208 feet 9 inches (), on a side. As a unit of measure, an acre has no prescribed shape; any area of 43,560 square feet is an acre. + +US survey acres +In the international yard and pound agreement of 1959, the United States and five countries of the Commonwealth of Nations defined the international yard to be exactly 0.9144 metre. The US authorities decided that, while the refined definition would apply nationally in all other respects, the US survey foot (and thus the survey acre) would continue 'until such a time as it becomes desirable and expedient to readjust [it]'. By inference, an "international acre" may be calculated as exactly square metres but it does not have a basis in any international agreement. + +Both the international acre and the US survey acre contain of a square mile or 4,840 square yards, but alternative definitions of a yard are used (see survey foot and survey yard), so the exact size of an acre depends upon the yard upon which it is based. The US survey acre is about 4,046.872 square metres; its exact value ( m2) is based on an inch defined by 1 metre = 39.37 inches exactly, as established by the Mendenhall Order of 1893. Surveyors in the United States use both international and survey feet, and consequently, both varieties of acre. + +Since the difference between the US survey acre and international acre (0.016 square metres, 160 square centimetres or 24.8 square inches), is only about a quarter of the size of an A4 sheet or US letter, it is usually not important which one is being discussed. Areas are seldom measured with sufficient accuracy for the different definitions to be detectable. + +In October 2019, the US National Geodetic Survey and the National Institute of Standards and Technology announced their joint intent to end the "temporary" continuance of the US survey foot, mile, and acre units (as permitted by their 1959 decision, above), with effect from the end of 2022. + +Spanish acre +The Puerto Rican cuerda () is sometimes called the "Spanish acre" in the continental United States. + +Use +The acre is commonly used many current and former Commonwealth countries by custom, and in a few it continues as a statute measure. These include Antigua and Barbuda, American Samoa, The Bahamas, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, the Falkland Islands, Grenada, Ghana, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Jamaica, Montserrat, Samoa, Saint Lucia, St. Helena, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Turks and Caicos, the United Kingdom, the United States and the US Virgin Islands. + +Republic of Ireland + +In the Republic of Ireland, the hectare is legally used under European units of measurement directives; however, the acre is still widely used, especially in agriculture. (This is the standard statute acre, the same as used in the UK, not the old Irish acre which was of a different size.) + +Indian subcontinent +In the Republic of India, residential plots are measured in square feet or square metre, while agricultural land is measured in acres. In Sri Lanka, the division of an acre into 160 perches or 4 roods is common. + +In Pakistan, residential plots are measured in (20 = 1 = 500 sq yards) and open/agriculture land measurement is in acres (8 = 1 acre or 4 = 1 acre) and (25 acres = 1 = 200 ), and . + +United Kingdom +Its use as a primary unit for trade in the United Kingdom ceased to be permitted from 1 October 1995, due to the 1994 amendment of the Weights and Measures Act, where it was replaced by the hectare though its use as a supplementary unit continues to be permitted indefinitely. This was with the exemption of Land registration, which records the sale and possession of land, in 2010 HM Land Registry ended its exemption. The measure is still used to communicate with the public, and informally (non-contract) by the farming and property industries. + +Equivalence to other units of area + +1 international acre is equal to the following metric units: +0.40468564224 hectare (A square with 100 m sides has an area of 1 hectare.) +4,046.8564224 square metres (or a square with approximately 63.61 m sides) + +1 United States survey acre is equal to: +0.404687261 hectare +4,046.87261 square metres (1 square kilometre is equal to 247.105 acres) + +1 acre (both variants) is equal to the following customary units: +66 feet × 660 feet (43,560 square feet) +10 square chains (1 chain = 66 feet = 22 yards = 4 rods = 100 links) +1 acre is approximately 208.71 feet × 208.71 feet (a square) +4,840 square yards +43,560 square feet +160 perches. A perch is equal to a square rod (1 square rod is 0.00625 acre) +4 roods +A furlong by a chain (furlong 220 yards, chain 22 yards) +40 rods by 4 rods, 160 rods2 (historically fencing was often sold in 40 rod lengths) + (0.0015625) square mile (1 square mile is equal to 640 acres) + +Perhaps the easiest way for US residents to envision an acre is as a rectangle measuring 88 yards by 55 yards ( of 880 yards by of 880 yards), about the size of a standard American football field. To be more exact, one acre is 90.75% of a 100-yd-long by 53.33-yd-wide American football field (without the end zone). The full field, including the end zones, covers about . + +For residents of other countries, the acre might be envisioned as rather more than half of a football pitch. + +Historical origin + +The word acre is derived from Old English originally meaning "open field", cognate with west coast Norwegian , Icelandic , Swedish , German , Dutch , Latin , Sanskrit , and Greek (). In English, an obsolete variant spelling was aker. + +According to the Act on the Composition of Yards and Perches, dating from around 1300, an acre is "40 perches [rods] in length and four in breadth", meaning 220 yards by 22 yards. As detailed in the box on the right, an acre was roughly the amount of land tillable by a yoke of oxen in one day. + +Before the enactment of the metric system, many countries in Europe used their own official acres. In France, the traditional unit of area was the arpent carre, a measure based on the Roman system of land measurement. +The was used only in Normandy (and neighbouring places outside its traditional borders), but its value varied greatly across Normandy, ranging from 3,632 to 9,725 square metres, with 8,172 square metres being the most frequent value. But inside the same of Normandy, for instance in pays de Caux, the farmers (still in the 20th century) made the difference between the (68 ares, 66 centiares) and the (56 to 65 ca). The Normandy was usually divided in 4 (roods) and 160 square , like the English acre. + +The Normandy was equal to 1.6 , the unit of area more commonly used in Northern France outside of Normandy. In Canada, the Paris used in Quebec before the metric system was adopted is sometimes called "French acre" in English, even though the Paris and the Normandy were two very different units of area in ancient France (the Paris became the unit of area of French Canada, whereas the Normandy was never used in French Canada). + +In Germany, the Netherlands, and Eastern Europe the traditional unit of area was . Like the acre, the morgen was a unit of ploughland, representing a strip that could be ploughed by one man and an ox or horse in a morning. There were many variants of the morgen, differing between the different German territories, ranging from . It was also used in Old Prussia, in the Balkans, Norway, and Denmark, where it was equal to about . + +Statutory values for the acre were enacted in England, and subsequently the United Kingdom, by acts of: +Edward I +Edward III +Henry VIII +George IV +Queen Victoria – the British Weights and Measures Act of 1878 defined it as containing 4,840 square yards. + +Historically, the size of farms and landed estates in the United Kingdom was usually expressed in acres (or acres, roods, and perches), even if the number of acres was so large that it might conveniently have been expressed in square miles. For example, a certain landowner might have been said to own 32,000 acres of land, not 50 square miles of land. + +The acre is related to the square mile, with 640 acres making up one square mile. One mile is 5280 feet (1760 yards). In western Canada and the western United States, divisions of land area were typically based on the square mile, and fractions thereof. If the square mile is divided into quarters, each quarter has a side length of mile (880 yards) and is square mile in area, or 160 acres. These subunits would typically then again be divided into quarters, with each side being mile long, and being of a square mile in area, or 40 acres. In the United States, farmland was typically divided as such, and the phrase "the back 40" would refer to the 40-acre parcel to the back of the farm. Most of the Canadian Prairie Provinces and the US Midwest are on square-mile grids for surveying purposes. + +Legacy units + Customary acre – The customary acre was roughly similar to the Imperial acre, but it was subject to considerable local variation similar to the variation in carucates, virgates, bovates, nooks, and farundels. These may have been multiples of the customary acre, rather than the statute acre. + Builder's acre = an even or , used in US real-estate development to simplify the math and for marketing. It is nearly 10% smaller than a survey acre, and the discrepancy has led to lawsuits alleging misrepresentation. + Scottish acre = 1.3 Imperial acres (5,080 m2, an obsolete Scottish measurement) + Irish acre = + Cheshire acre = + Stremma or Greek acre ≈ 10,000 square Greek feet, but now set at exactly 1,000 square metres (a similar unit was the zeugarion) + Dunam or Turkish acre ≈ 1,600 square Turkish paces, but now set at exactly 1,000 square metres (a similar unit was the çift) + Actus quadratus or Roman acre ≈ 14,400 square Roman feet (about 1,260 square metres) + God's Acre – a synonym for a churchyard. + Long acre the grass strip on either side of a road that may be used for illicit grazing. + Town acre was a term used in early 19th century in the planning of towns on a grid plan, such as Adelaide, South Australia and Wellington, New Plymouth and Nelson in New Zealand. The land was divided into plots of an Imperial acre, and these became known as town acres. + +See also + + Acre-foot – used in US to measure a large water volume + Anthropic units + Conversion of units + French arpent – used in Louisiana to measure length and area + Jugerum + a Morgen ("morning") of land is normally of a Tagwerk ("day work") of ploughing with an ox + Public Land Survey System + Quarter acre + Section (United States land surveying) + Spanish customary units + +Notes + +References + +External links + + The Units of Measurement Regulations 1995 (United Kingdom) + +Customary units of measurement in the United States +Imperial units +Surveying +Units of area +ATP may refer to: + +Science, technology and biology +Adenosine triphosphate, an organic chemical used for driving biological processes +ATPase, any enzyme that makes use of adenosine triphosphate +Advanced Technology Program, US government program +Anti-tachycardia pacing, process similar to a pacemaker +Alberta Taciuk process, for extracting oil from shale, etc. +Automated theorem proving, method of proving mathematical theorems by computer programs + +Companies and organizations + + Association of Tennis Professionals, men's professional tennis governing body +ATP Tour + American Technical Publishers, employee-owned publishing company + Armenia Tree Project, non-profit organization + Association for Transpersonal Psychology + ATP architects engineers, architecture- and engineering office for integrated design + ATP Oil and Gas, defunct US energy company + +Entertainment, arts and media +Adenosine Tri-Phosphate (band), Japanese alternative rock/pop band +All Tomorrow's Parties (festival), UK organisation +ATP Recordings, record label +Alberta Theatre Projects, professional, not-for-profit, Canadian theatre company +Associated Talking Pictures, former name of Ealing Studios, a television and film production company + +Transport +British Aerospace ATP, airliner + Airline transport pilot license + ATP Flight School, US + ATP (treaty), UN treaty that establishes standards for the international transport of perishable food + Aitape Airport, Papua New Guinea, IATA code + Anti-trespass panels, meant to deter pedestrians from walking on or adjacent to train tracks + Automatic train protection, system installed in trains to prevent collisions through driver error +Automatic Train Protection (United Kingdom), method of beacon based railway cab signalling + +Economics + Available-to-promise, responding to customer order enquiries + , a Danish pension + , a Swedish pension + +Other uses + Around-the-post, a term used in the game of pickleball +Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is an organic compound that provides energy to drive and support many processes in living cells, such as muscle contraction, nerve impulse propagation, condensate dissolution, and chemical synthesis. Found in all known forms of life, ATP is often referred to as the "molecular unit of currency" of intracellular energy transfer. When consumed in metabolic processes, it converts either to adenosine diphosphate (ADP) or to adenosine monophosphate (AMP). Other processes regenerate ATP. It is also a precursor to DNA and RNA, and is used as a coenzyme. A human adult processes around 50 kg of ATP daily. + +From the perspective of biochemistry, ATP is classified as a nucleoside triphosphate, which indicates that it consists of three components: a nitrogenous base (adenine), the sugar ribose, and the triphosphate. + +Structure +ATP consists of an adenine attached by the 9-nitrogen atom to the 1′ carbon atom of a sugar (ribose), which in turn is attached at the 5' carbon atom of the sugar to a triphosphate group. In its many reactions related to metabolism, the adenine and sugar groups remain unchanged, but the triphosphate is converted to di- and monophosphate, giving respectively the derivatives ADP and AMP. The three phosphoryl groups are labeled as alpha (α), beta (β), and, for the terminal phosphate, gamma (γ). + +In neutral solution, ionized ATP exists mostly as ATP4−, with a small proportion of ATP3−. + +Binding of metal cations to ATP +Being polyanionic and featuring a potentially chelating polyphosphate group, ATP binds metal cations with high affinity. The binding constant for is (). The binding of a divalent cation, almost always magnesium, strongly affects the interaction of ATP with various proteins. Due to the strength of the ATP-Mg2+ interaction, ATP exists in the cell mostly as a complex with bonded to the phosphate oxygen centers. + +A second magnesium ion is critical for ATP binding in the kinase domain. The presence of Mg2+ regulates kinase activity. It is interesting from an RNA world perspective that ATP can carry a Mg ion which catalyzes RNA polymerization. + +Chemical properties +Salts of ATP can be isolated as colorless solids. + +ATP is stable in aqueous solutions between pH 6.8 and 7.4, in the absence of catalysts. At more extreme pHs, it rapidly hydrolyses to ADP and phosphate. Living cells maintain the ratio of ATP to ADP at a point ten orders of magnitude from equilibrium, with ATP concentrations fivefold higher than the concentration of ADP. In the context of biochemical reactions, the P-O-P bonds are frequently referred to as high-energy bonds. + +Reactive aspects +The hydrolysis of ATP into ADP and inorganic phosphate releases 20.5 kJ/mol of enthalpy. The values of the free energy released by cleaving either a phosphate (Pi) or a pyrophosphate (PPi) unit from ATP at standard state concentrations of 1 mol/L at pH 7 are: + +ATP + → ADP + Pi ΔG°' = −30.5 kJ/mol (−7.3 kcal/mol) +ATP + → AMP + PPi ΔG°' = −45.6 kJ/mol (−10.9 kcal/mol) +These abbreviated equations at a pH near 7 can be written more explicitly (R = adenosyl): +[RO-P(O)2-O-P(O)2-O-PO3]4− + → [RO-P(O)2-O-PO3]3− + [HPO4]2− + H+ +[RO-P(O)2-O-P(O)2-O-PO3]4− + → [RO-PO3]2− + [HO3P-O-PO3]3− + H+ + +At cytoplasmic conditions, where the ADP/ATP ratio is 10 orders of magnitude from equilibrium, the ΔG is around −57 kJ/mol. + +Along with pH, the free energy change of ATP hydrolysis is also associated with Mg2+ concentration, from ΔG°' = −35.7 kJ/mol at a Mg2+ concentration of zero, to ΔG°' = −31 kJ/mol at [Mg2+] = 5 mM. Higher concentrations of Mg2+ decrease free energy released in the reaction due to binding of Mg2+ ions to negatively charged oxygen atoms of ATP at pH 7. + +Production from AMP and ADP + +Production, aerobic conditions +A typical intracellular concentration of ATP is hard to pin down, however, reports have shown there to be 1–10 μmol per gram of tissue in a variety of eukaryotes. The dephosphorylation of ATP and rephosphorylation of ADP and AMP occur repeatedly in the course of aerobic metabolism. + +ATP can be produced by a number of distinct cellular processes; the three main pathways in eukaryotes are (1) glycolysis, (2) the citric acid cycle/oxidative phosphorylation, and (3) beta-oxidation. The overall process of oxidizing glucose to carbon dioxide, the combination of pathways 1 and 2, known as cellular respiration, produces about 30 equivalents of ATP from each molecule of glucose. + +ATP production by a non-photosynthetic aerobic eukaryote occurs mainly in the mitochondria, which comprise nearly 25% of the volume of a typical cell. + +Glycolysis + +In glycolysis, glucose and glycerol are metabolized to pyruvate. Glycolysis generates two equivalents of ATP through substrate phosphorylation catalyzed by two enzymes, phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) and pyruvate kinase. Two equivalents of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) are also produced, which can be oxidized via the electron transport chain and result in the generation of additional ATP by ATP synthase. The pyruvate generated as an end-product of glycolysis is a substrate for the Krebs Cycle. + +Glycolysis is viewed as consisting of two phases with five steps each. In phase 1, "the preparatory phase", glucose is converted to 2 d-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (g3p). One ATP is invested in Step 1, and another ATP is invested in Step 3. Steps 1 and 3 of glycolysis are referred to as "Priming Steps". In Phase 2, two equivalents of g3p are converted to two pyruvates. In Step 7, two ATP are produced. Also, in Step 10, two further equivalents of ATP are produced. In Steps 7 and 10, ATP is generated from ADP. A net of two ATPs is formed in the glycolysis cycle. The glycolysis pathway is later associated with the Citric Acid Cycle which produces additional equivalents of ATP. + +Regulation +In glycolysis, hexokinase is directly inhibited by its product, glucose-6-phosphate, and pyruvate kinase is inhibited by ATP itself. The main control point for the glycolytic pathway is phosphofructokinase (PFK), which is allosterically inhibited by high concentrations of ATP and activated by high concentrations of AMP. The inhibition of PFK by ATP is unusual since ATP is also a substrate in the reaction catalyzed by PFK; the active form of the enzyme is a tetramer that exists in two conformations, only one of which binds the second substrate fructose-6-phosphate (F6P). The protein has two binding sites for ATP – the active site is accessible in either protein conformation, but ATP binding to the inhibitor site stabilizes the conformation that binds F6P poorly. A number of other small molecules can compensate for the ATP-induced shift in equilibrium conformation and reactivate PFK, including cyclic AMP, ammonium ions, inorganic phosphate, and fructose-1,6- and -2,6-biphosphate. + +Citric acid cycle + +In the mitochondrion, pyruvate is oxidized by the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex to the acetyl group, which is fully oxidized to carbon dioxide by the citric acid cycle (also known as the Krebs cycle). Every "turn" of the citric acid cycle produces two molecules of carbon dioxide, one equivalent of ATP guanosine triphosphate (GTP) through substrate-level phosphorylation catalyzed by succinyl-CoA synthetase, as succinyl-CoA is converted to succinate, three equivalents of NADH, and one equivalent of FADH2. NADH and FADH2 are recycled (to NAD+ and FAD, respectively) by oxidative phosphorylation, generating additional ATP. The oxidation of NADH results in the synthesis of 2–3 equivalents of ATP, and the oxidation of one FADH2 yields between 1–2 equivalents of ATP. The majority of cellular ATP is generated by this process. Although the citric acid cycle itself does not involve molecular oxygen, it is an obligately aerobic process because O2 is used to recycle the NADH and FADH2. In the absence of oxygen, the citric acid cycle ceases. + +The generation of ATP by the mitochondrion from cytosolic NADH relies on the malate-aspartate shuttle (and to a lesser extent, the glycerol-phosphate shuttle) because the inner mitochondrial membrane is impermeable to NADH and NAD+. Instead of transferring the generated NADH, a malate dehydrogenase enzyme converts oxaloacetate to malate, which is translocated to the mitochondrial matrix. Another malate dehydrogenase-catalyzed reaction occurs in the opposite direction, producing oxaloacetate and NADH from the newly transported malate and the mitochondrion's interior store of NAD+. A transaminase converts the oxaloacetate to aspartate for transport back across the membrane and into the intermembrane space. + +In oxidative phosphorylation, the passage of electrons from NADH and FADH2 through the electron transport chain releases the energy to pump protons out of the mitochondrial matrix and into the intermembrane space. This pumping generates a proton motive force that is the net effect of a pH gradient and an electric potential gradient across the inner mitochondrial membrane. Flow of protons down this potential gradient – that is, from the intermembrane space to the matrix – yields ATP by ATP synthase. Three ATP are produced per turn. + +Although oxygen consumption appears fundamental for the maintenance of the proton motive force, in the event of oxygen shortage (hypoxia), intracellular acidosis (mediated by enhanced glycolytic rates and ATP hydrolysis), contributes to mitochondrial membrane potential and directly drives ATP synthesis. + +Most of the ATP synthesized in the mitochondria will be used for cellular processes in the cytosol; thus it must be exported from its site of synthesis in the mitochondrial matrix. ATP outward movement is favored by the membrane's electrochemical potential because the cytosol has a relatively positive charge compared to the relatively negative matrix. For every ATP transported out, it costs 1 H+. Producing one ATP costs about 3 H+. Therefore, making and exporting one ATP requires 4H+. The inner membrane contains an antiporter, the ADP/ATP translocase, which is an integral membrane protein used to exchange newly synthesized ATP in the matrix for ADP in the intermembrane space. This translocase is driven by the membrane potential, as it results in the movement of about 4 negative charges out across the mitochondrial membrane in exchange for 3 negative charges moved inside. However, it is also necessary to transport phosphate into the mitochondrion; the phosphate carrier moves a proton in with each phosphate, partially dissipating the proton gradient. After completing glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, the electron transport chain, and oxidative phosphorylation, approximately 30–38 ATP molecules are produced per glucose. + +Regulation +The citric acid cycle is regulated mainly by the availability of key substrates, particularly the ratio of NAD+ to NADH and the concentrations of calcium, inorganic phosphate, ATP, ADP, and AMP. Citrate – the ion that gives its name to the cycle – is a feedback inhibitor of citrate synthase and also inhibits PFK, providing a direct link between the regulation of the citric acid cycle and glycolysis. + +Beta oxidation + +In the presence of air and various cofactors and enzymes, fatty acids are converted to acetyl-CoA. The pathway is called beta-oxidation. Each cycle of beta-oxidation shortens the fatty acid chain by two carbon atoms and produces one equivalent each of acetyl-CoA, NADH, and FADH2. The acetyl-CoA is metabolized by the citric acid cycle to generate ATP, while the NADH and FADH2 are used by oxidative phosphorylation to generate ATP. Dozens of ATP equivalents are generated by the beta-oxidation of a single long acyl chain. + +Regulation +In oxidative phosphorylation, the key control point is the reaction catalyzed by cytochrome c oxidase, which is regulated by the availability of its substrate – the reduced form of cytochrome c. The amount of reduced cytochrome c available is directly related to the amounts of other substrates: + +which directly implies this equation: + +Thus, a high ratio of [NADH] to [NAD+] or a high ratio of [ADP] [Pi] to [ATP] imply a high amount of reduced cytochrome c and a high level of cytochrome c oxidase activity. An additional level of regulation is introduced by the transport rates of ATP and NADH between the mitochondrial matrix and the cytoplasm. + +Ketosis + +Ketone bodies can be used as fuels, yielding 22 ATP and 2 GTP molecules per acetoacetate molecule when oxidized in the mitochondria. Ketone bodies are transported from the liver to other tissues, where acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate can be reconverted to acetyl-CoA to produce reducing equivalents (NADH and FADH2), via the citric acid cycle. Ketone bodies cannot be used as fuel by the liver, because the liver lacks the enzyme β-ketoacyl-CoA transferase, also called thiolase. Acetoacetate in low concentrations is taken up by the liver and undergoes detoxification through the methylglyoxal pathway which ends with lactate. Acetoacetate in high concentrations is absorbed by cells other than those in the liver and enters a different pathway via 1,2-propanediol. Though the pathway follows a different series of steps requiring ATP, 1,2-propanediol can be turned into pyruvate. + +Production, anaerobic conditions +Fermentation is the metabolism of organic compounds in the absence of air. It involves substrate-level phosphorylation in the absence of a respiratory electron transport chain. The equation for the reaction of glucose to form lactic acid is: + + 2 ADP + 2 Pi → 2  + 2 ATP + 2  + +Anaerobic respiration is respiration in the absence of . Prokaryotes can utilize a variety of electron acceptors. These include nitrate, sulfate, and carbon dioxide. + +ATP replenishment by nucleoside diphosphate kinases +ATP can also be synthesized through several so-called "replenishment" reactions catalyzed by the enzyme families of nucleoside diphosphate kinases (NDKs), which use other nucleoside triphosphates as a high-energy phosphate donor, and the ATP:guanido-phosphotransferase family. + +ATP production during photosynthesis +In plants, ATP is synthesized in the thylakoid membrane of the chloroplast. The process is called photophosphorylation. The "machinery" is similar to that in mitochondria except that light energy is used to pump protons across a membrane to produce a proton-motive force. ATP synthase then ensues exactly as in oxidative phosphorylation. Some of the ATP produced in the chloroplasts is consumed in the Calvin cycle, which produces triose sugars. + +ATP recycling +The total quantity of ATP in the human body is about 0.1 mol/L. The majority of ATP is recycled from ADP by the aforementioned processes. Thus, at any given time, the total amount of ATP + ADP remains fairly constant. + +The energy used by human cells in an adult requires the hydrolysis of 100 to 150 mol/L of ATP daily, which means a human will typically use their body weight worth of ATP over the course of the day. Each equivalent of ATP is recycled 1000–1500 times during a single day (), at approximately 9×1020 molecules/s. + +Biochemical functions + +Intracellular signaling +ATP is involved in signal transduction by serving as substrate for kinases, enzymes that transfer phosphate groups. Kinases are the most common ATP-binding proteins. They share a small number of common folds. Phosphorylation of a protein by a kinase can activate a cascade such as the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade. + +ATP is also a substrate of adenylate cyclase, most commonly in G protein-coupled receptor signal transduction pathways and is transformed to second messenger, cyclic AMP, which is involved in triggering calcium signals by the release of calcium from intracellular stores. This form of signal transduction is particularly important in brain function, although it is involved in the regulation of a multitude of other cellular processes. + +DNA and RNA synthesis +ATP is one of four monomers required in the synthesis of RNA. The process is promoted by RNA polymerases. A similar process occurs in the formation of DNA, except that ATP is first converted to the deoxyribonucleotide dATP. Like many condensation reactions in nature, DNA replication and DNA transcription also consume ATP. + +Amino acid activation in protein synthesis + +Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase enzymes consume ATP in the attachment tRNA to amino acids, forming aminoacyl-tRNA complexes. Aminoacyl transferase binds AMP-amino acid to tRNA. The coupling reaction proceeds in two steps: + + aa + ATP ⟶ aa-AMP + PPi + aa-AMP + tRNA ⟶ aa-tRNA + AMP + +The amino acid is coupled to the penultimate nucleotide at the 3′-end of the tRNA (the A in the sequence CCA) via an ester bond (roll over in illustration). + +ATP binding cassette transporter +Transporting chemicals out of a cell against a gradient is often associated with ATP hydrolysis. Transport is mediated by ATP binding cassette transporters. The human genome encodes 48 ABC transporters, that are used for exporting drugs, lipids, and other compounds. + +Extracellular signalling and neurotransmission +Cells secrete ATP to communicate with other cells in a process called purinergic signalling. ATP serves as a neurotransmitter in many parts of the nervous system, modulates ciliary beating, affects vascular oxygen supply etc. ATP is either secreted directly across the cell membrane through channel proteins or is pumped into vesicles which then fuse with the membrane. Cells detect ATP using the purinergic receptor proteins P2X and P2Y. + +Protein solubility +ATP has recently been proposed to act as a biological hydrotrope and has been shown to affect proteome-wide solubility. + +Abiogenic origins +Acetyl phosphate (AcP), a precursor to ATP, can readily be synthesized at modest yields from thioacetate in pH 7 and 20 °C and pH 8 and 50 °C, although acetyl phosphate is less stable in warmer temperatures and alkaline conditions than in cooler and acidic to neutral conditions. However, it is unable to promote polymerization of ribonucleotides and amino acids and was only capable of phosphorylation of organic compounds. It was shown that it can promote aggregation and stabilization of AMP in the presence of Na+, aggregation of nucleotides could promote polymerization above 75 °C however these can only occur in the absence of Na+. It is possible that polymerization promoted by AcP could occur at mineral surfaces. It was shown that ADP can only be phosphorylated to ATP by AcP and other nucleoside triphosphates were not phosphorylated by AcP. This might explain why all lifeforms use ATP to drive biochemical reactions. + +ATP analogues +Biochemistry laboratories often use in vitro studies to explore ATP-dependent molecular processes. ATP analogs are also used in X-ray crystallography to determine a protein structure in complex with ATP, often together with other substrates. + +Enzyme inhibitors of ATP-dependent enzymes such as kinases are needed to examine the binding sites and transition states involved in ATP-dependent reactions. + +Most useful ATP analogs cannot be hydrolyzed as ATP would be; instead, they trap the enzyme in a structure closely related to the ATP-bound state. Adenosine 5′-(γ-thiotriphosphate) is an extremely common ATP analog in which one of the gamma-phosphate oxygens is replaced by a sulfur atom; this anion is hydrolyzed at a dramatically slower rate than ATP itself and functions as an inhibitor of ATP-dependent processes. In crystallographic studies, hydrolysis transition states are modeled by the bound vanadate ion. + +Caution is warranted in interpreting the results of experiments using ATP analogs, since some enzymes can hydrolyze them at appreciable rates at high concentration. + +Medical use +ATP is used intravenously for some heart related conditions. + +History +ATP was discovered in 1929 by Karl Lohmann and Jendrassik and, independently, by Cyrus Fiske and Yellapragada Subba Rao of Harvard Medical School, both teams competing against each other to find an assay for phosphorus. + +It was proposed to be the intermediary between energy-yielding and energy-requiring reactions in cells by Fritz Albert Lipmann in 1941. + +It was first synthesized in the laboratory by Alexander Todd in 1948, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1957 partly for this work. + +The 1978 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Peter Dennis Mitchell for the discovery of the chemiosmotic mechanism of ATP synthesis. + +The 1997 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was divided, one half jointly to Paul D. Boyer and John E. Walker "for their elucidation of the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)" and the other half to Jens C. Skou "for the first discovery of an ion-transporting enzyme, Na+, K+ -ATPase." + +See also + + Adenosine-tetraphosphatase + Adenosine methylene triphosphate + ATPases + ATP test + Creatine + Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) + Nucleotide exchange factor + Phosphagen + +References + +External links + + ATP bound to proteins in the PDB + ScienceAid: Energy ATP and Exercise + PubChem entry for Adenosine Triphosphate + KEGG entry for Adenosine Triphosphate + +Adenosine receptor agonists +Cellular respiration +Coenzymes +Ergogenic aids +Exercise physiology +Neurotransmitters +Nucleotides +Phosphate esters +Purinergic signalling +Purines +Substances discovered in the 1920s +Ægir (anglicised as Aegir; Old Norse 'sea'), Hlér (Old Norse 'sea'), or Gymir (Old Norse less clearly 'sea, engulfer'), is a jötunn and a personification of the sea in Norse mythology. In the Old Norse record, Ægir hosts the gods in his halls and is associated with brewing ale. Ægir is attested as married to a goddess, Rán, who also personifies the sea, and together the two produced daughters who personify waves, the Nine Daughters of Ægir and Rán, and Ægir's son is Snær, personified snow. Ægir may also be the father of the beautiful jötunn Gerðr, wife of the god Freyr, or these may be two separate figures who share the same name (see below and Gymir (father of Gerðr)). + +One of Ægir's names, Hlér, is the namesake of the island Læsø (Old Norse Hléysey 'Hlér's island') and perhaps also Lejre in Denmark. Scholars have long analyzed Ægir's role in the Old Norse corpus, and the concept of the figure has had some influence in modern popular culture. + +Names +The Old Norse name Ægir ('sea') may stem from a Proto-Germanic form *āgwi-jaz ('that of the river/water'), itself a derivative of the stem *ahwō- ('river'; cf. Gothic 'body of water, river', Old English ēa 'stream', Old High German aha 'river'). Richard Cleasby and Guðbrandur Vigfússon saw his name as deriving from an ancient Indo-European root. Linguist Guus Kroonen argues that the Germanic stem *ahwō- is probably of Proto-Indo-European (PIE) origin, as it may be cognate with Latin aqua (via a common form *h₂ekʷ-eh₂-), and ultimately descend from the PIE root *h₂ep- ('water'; cf. Sanskrit áp- 'water', Tocharian āp- 'water, river'). Linguist Michiel de Vaan notes that the connection between Proto-Germanic *ahwō- and Old Norse Ægir remains uncertain, and that *ahwō- and aqua, if cognates, may also be loanwords from a non-Indo-European language. + +The name Ægir is identical to a noun for 'sea' in skaldic poetry, itself a base word in many kennings. For instance, a ship is described as "Ægir's horse" and the waves as the "daughters of Ægir". + +Poetic kennings in both Hversu Noregr byggðist (How Norway Was Settled) and Skáldskaparmál (The Language of Poetry) treat Ægir and the sea-jötunn Hlér, who lives on the Hlésey ('Hlér island', modern Læsø), as the same figure. + +The meaning of the Old Norse name Gymir is unclear. Proposed translations include 'the earthly' (from Old Norse gumi), 'the wintry one' (from gemla), or 'the protector', the 'engulfer' (from geyma). (For more on this topic, see discussion below) + +Attestations + +Ægir is attested in a variety of Old Norse sources. + +Sonatorrek +Ægir and Rán receive mention in the poem Sonatorrek attributed to 10th century Icelandic skald Egill Skallagrímsson. In the poem, Egill laments the death of his son Böðvar, who drowned at sea during a storm. In one difficult stanza, the skald expresses the pain of losing his son by invoking the image of slaying the personified sea, personified as Ægir (Old Norse ǫlsmið[r] 'ale-smith') and Rán (Ægis man 'Ægir's wife'): + +The skald later references Ægir by way of the kenning 'Hlér's fire' (Hlés viti), meaning gold. + +Poetic Edda +In the Poetic Edda, Ægir receives mention in the eddic poems Grímnismál, Hymiskviða, Lokasenna, and in the prose section of Helgakviða Hundingsbana I. In Grímnismál, the disguised god Odin references Ægir's status as a renowned host among the gods: + +'Fleeting visions I have now revealed before the victory-gods's sons, +now the wished-for protection will awaken; +to the all the Æsir it will become known, +on Ægir's benches, +at Ægir's feast.' + +In Hymiskviða, Ægir plays a major role. In the poem, the gods have become thirsty after a successful hunt, and are keen to celebrate with drink. They "shook the twigs and looked at the augury" and "found that at Ægir's was an ample choice of cauldrons". Odin goes to Ægir, who he finds sitting in good cheer, and tells him he shall "often prepare a feast for the Æsir". Referring to Ægir as a jötunn, the poem describes how, now annoyed, Ægir hatches a plan: He asks Thor to fetch a particular cauldron, and that with it he could brew ale for them all. The gods are unable to find a cauldron of a size big enough to meet Ægir's request until the god Týr recommends one he knows of far away, setting the stage for the events of the rest of the poem. + +According to the prose introduction to Lokasenna, "Ægir, who is also called Gymir", was hosting a feast "with the great cauldron which has just been told about", which many of the gods and elves attended. The prose introduction describes the feast as featuring gold that shimmers like fire light and ale that serves itself, and that "it was a great place of peace". In attendance also were Ægir's servers, Fimafeng and Eldir. The gods praise the excellence of their service and, hearing this, Loki murders Fimafeng, enraging the gods, who chase him out to the woods before returning to drink. + +In the poem that follows the prose introduction (and in accompanying prose), Loki returns to the hall and greets Eldir: He says that before Eldir steps forward, he should first tell him what the gods are discussing in the hall. Eldir says that they're discussing weaponry and war, and having nothing good to say about Loki. Loki says that he will enter Ægir's halls and have a look at the feast, and with him bring quarrel and strife. Eldir notifies Loki that if he enters and causes trouble, he can expect them to return it to him. Loki enters the hall and the gods see him and become silent. + +In Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, a great wave is referred to as "Ægir's terrible daughter". + +Prose Edda +Ægir receives numerous mentions in the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, where he sits at a banquet and asks the skaldic god Bragi many questions, and Bragi responds with narratives about the gods. The section begins as follows: + +Beyond this section of Skáldskaparmál, Ægir receives several other mentions in kennings. Section 25 provides examples for 'sea', including 'visitor of the gods', 'husband of Rán', 'father of Ægir's daughters', 'land of Rán and Ægir's daughters'. Kennings cited to skalds in this section include 'the storm-happy daughters of Ægir' meaning 'waves' (Svein) and a kenning in a fragment of a work by the 11th century Icelandic skald Hofgarða-Refr Gestsson, where Rán is referred to as 'Gymir's ... völva': + +The section's author comments that the stanza "[implies] that they are all the same, Ægir and Hler and Gymir. + +Chapter 33b of Skáldskaparmál discusses why skalds may refer to gold as "Ægir's fire". The section traces the kenning to a narrative surrounding Ægir, in which the jötunn employs "glowing gold" in the center of his hall to light it "like fire" (which the narrator compares to flaming swords in Valhalla). The section explains that "Ran is the name of Ægir's wife, and the names of their nine daughters are as was written above ... Then the Æsir discovered that Ran had a net in which she caught everyone that went to sea ... so this is the story of the origin of gold being called fire or light or brightness of Ægir, Ran or Ægir's daughters, and from such kennings the practice has now developed of calling gold fire of the sea and of all terms for it, since Ægir and Ran's names are also terms for the sea, and hence gold is now called fire of lakes or rivers and of all river-names." + +In chapter 61 provides yet more kennings. Among them the author notes that "Ran, who, it is said, was Ægir's wife" and that "the daughters of Ægir and Ran are nine". In chapter 75, Ægir occurs in a list of jötnar. + +Saga corpus +In what appears to be a Norwegian genealogical tradition, Ægir is portrayed as one of the three elements among the sea, the fire and the wind. The beginning of the Orkneyinga saga ('Saga of the Orkney Islanders') and Hversu Noregr byggdisk ('How Norway Was Settled') tell that the jötunn king Fornjót had three sons: Hlér ('sea'), whom he called Ægir, a second named Logi ('fire'), and a third called Kári ('wind'). + +Scholarly reception and interpretation + +Banquets +Carolyne Larrington says that Ægir's role in Hymiskviða "may reflect Scandinavian royal practices in which the king enforces his authority on his subordinates by visiting their homes and demanding to be feasted". According to Andy Orchard, Ægir's role in Skáldskaparmál, where he attends a banquet rather than hosting it, could be a deliberate inversion of the traditional motif of Ægir as host. + +Gymir +The name Gymir may indicate that Ægir was understood as the father of the beautiful jötunn Gerðr; they may also have been two different figures sharing the same name (see Gymir, father of Gerðr). Both the prose introduction to Lokasenna and Skáldskaparmál state that Ægir is also known as Gymir, the father of the jötunn Gerðr. Rudolf Simek argues that, if understood to be two different entities, this may stem from an erroneous interpretation of kennings in which different jötunn-names are used interchangeably. + +Hlér, Læsø, Lejre, and Snow +As highlighted above in Skáldskaparmál, the name of the island Læsø in Denmark references Hlér (Old Norse Hléysey 'Hlér's Island'). Simek speculates that Hlér may therefore have been seen as something of an ancestor of the island. + +Two sources list the personified snow, Snær (Old Norse 'snow'), as Hlér's son. Book nine of Saxo Grammaticus's 12th century history of Denmark Gesta Danorum contains mention of a figure by the name of Lerus (from Old Norse Hlér) whose son is Snio (from Old Norse Snær 'Snow'). The Danish chronicle of Lejre, Chronicon Lethrense also connects the two, and the name Lejre may, like Læsø, derive from the jötunn. + +Jötunn +Scholars have often discussed Ægir's role as host to the gods and his description as a jötunn. Anthony Faulkes observes that Ægir is "often described by modern writers as god of the sea" yet that he is nowhere described as a god in the Prose Edda and appears in a list of jötnar in Skáldskaparmál. According to John Lindow, since his wife Rán is listed among the Ásynjur (goddesses) in the same part of the Prose Edda, and since he had a close and friendly relationship with the Æsir (gods), Ægir's description as a jötunn appears questionable. Andy Orchard argues on the contrary that Ægir's inclusion among the Æsir is probably a late development since his daughters are described as jötnar and some sources mention him as the descendant of the jötunn Fornjót. According to Rudolf Simek, while attested as a jötunn, Ægir "has characteristics" of a sea god. + +Modern influence + +Ægir has been the subject of a variety of art pieces. These include Nils Blommér's painting Näcken och Ägirs döttrar (1850), Johan Peter Molin's (d. 1874) fountain relief Ægir, and Emil Doepler's Ægir (1901). + +Ægir is referenced in a variety of others ways in modern popular culture. For example, he is the namesake of a Norwegian corvette produced in 1967 (Ægir), a coastal defense ship in the Imperial German Navy, and of an exoplanet, Epsilon Eridani b. + +See also + + Ler (mythology), figure from Irish folklore + Njörðr, Norse deity associated with the sea + Trent Aegir, tidal bore on the River Trent + +Notes + +References + +Cleasby, Richard, Guðbrandur Vigfússon (1957). An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd ed. with supplement by William A. Craigie. Clarendon Press. Repr. 1975. + +External links + MyNDIR (My Norse Digital Image repository) illustrations of Ægir from Victorian and Edwardian retellings of Norse Mythology. Clicking on the thumbnail will give you the full image and information concerning it. + +Jötnar +Personifications in Norse mythology +Norse gods +Alcohol gods +Deities of wine and beer +Sea and river gods +An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of such infections. They may either kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria. A limited number of antibiotics also possess antiprotozoal activity. Antibiotics are not effective against viruses such as the common cold or influenza; drugs which inhibit growth of viruses are termed antiviral drugs or antivirals rather than antibiotics. They are also not effective against fungi; drugs which inhibit growth of fungi are called antifungal drugs. + +Sometimes, the term antibiotic—literally "opposing life", from the Greek roots ἀντι anti, "against" and βίος bios, "life"—is broadly used to refer to any substance used against microbes, but in the usual medical usage, antibiotics (such as penicillin) are those produced naturally (by one microorganism fighting another), whereas non-antibiotic antibacterials (such as sulfonamides and antiseptics) are fully synthetic. However, both classes have the same goal of killing or preventing the growth of microorganisms, and both are included in antimicrobial chemotherapy. "Antibacterials" include antiseptic drugs, antibacterial soaps, and chemical disinfectants, whereas antibiotics are an important class of antibacterials used more specifically in medicine and sometimes in livestock feed. + +Antibiotics have been used since ancient times. Many civilizations used topical application of moldy bread, with many references to its beneficial effects arising from ancient Egypt, Nubia, China, Serbia, Greece, and Rome. The first person to directly document the use of molds to treat infections was John Parkinson (1567–1650). Antibiotics revolutionized medicine in the 20th century. Alexander Fleming (1881–1955) discovered modern day penicillin in 1928, the widespread use of which proved significantly beneficial during wartime. However, the effectiveness and easy access to antibiotics have also led to their overuse and some bacteria have evolved resistance to them. The World Health Organization has classified antimicrobial resistance as a widespread "serious threat [that] is no longer a prediction for the future, it is happening right now in every region of the world and has the potential to affect anyone, of any age, in any country". Global deaths attributable to antimicrobial resistance numbered 1.27 million in 2019. + +Etymology + +The term 'antibiosis', meaning "against life", was introduced by the French bacteriologist Jean Paul Vuillemin as a descriptive name of the phenomenon exhibited by these early antibacterial drugs. Antibiosis was first described in 1877 in bacteria when Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch observed that an airborne bacillus could inhibit the growth of Bacillus anthracis. These drugs were later renamed antibiotics by Selman Waksman, an American microbiologist, in 1947. + +The term antibiotic was first used in 1942 by Selman Waksman and his collaborators in journal articles to describe any substance produced by a microorganism that is antagonistic to the growth of other microorganisms in high dilution. This definition excluded substances that kill bacteria but that are not produced by microorganisms (such as gastric juices and hydrogen peroxide). It also excluded synthetic antibacterial compounds such as the sulfonamides. In current usage, the term "antibiotic" is applied to any medication that kills bacteria or inhibits their growth, regardless of whether that medication is produced by a microorganism or not. + +The term "antibiotic" derives from anti + βιωτικός (biōtikos), "fit for life, lively", which comes from βίωσις (biōsis), "way of life", and that from βίος (bios), "life". The term "antibacterial" derives from Greek ἀντί (anti), "against" + βακτήριον (baktērion), diminutive of βακτηρία (baktēria), "staff, cane", because the first bacteria to be discovered were rod-shaped. + +Usage + +Medical uses +Antibiotics are used to treat or prevent bacterial infections, and sometimes protozoan infections. (Metronidazole is effective against a number of parasitic diseases). When an infection is suspected of being responsible for an illness but the responsible pathogen has not been identified, an empiric therapy is adopted. This involves the administration of a broad-spectrum antibiotic based on the signs and symptoms presented and is initiated pending laboratory results that can take several days. + +When the responsible pathogenic microorganism is already known or has been identified, definitive therapy can be started. This will usually involve the use of a narrow-spectrum antibiotic. The choice of antibiotic given will also be based on its cost. Identification is critically important as it can reduce the cost and toxicity of the antibiotic therapy and also reduce the possibility of the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. To avoid surgery, antibiotics may be given for non-complicated acute appendicitis. + +Antibiotics may be given as a preventive measure and this is usually limited to at-risk populations such as those with a weakened immune system (particularly in HIV cases to prevent pneumonia), those taking immunosuppressive drugs, cancer patients, and those having surgery. Their use in surgical procedures is to help prevent infection of incisions. They have an important role in dental antibiotic prophylaxis where their use may prevent bacteremia and consequent infective endocarditis. Antibiotics are also used to prevent infection in cases of neutropenia particularly cancer-related. + +The use of antibiotics for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease is not supported by current scientific evidence, and may actually increase cardiovascular mortality, all-cause mortality and the occurrence of stroke. + +Routes of administration +There are many different routes of administration for antibiotic treatment. Antibiotics are usually taken by mouth. In more severe cases, particularly deep-seated systemic infections, antibiotics can be given intravenously or by injection. Where the site of infection is easily accessed, antibiotics may be given topically in the form of eye drops onto the conjunctiva for conjunctivitis or ear drops for ear infections and acute cases of swimmer's ear. Topical use is also one of the treatment options for some skin conditions including acne and cellulitis. Advantages of topical application include achieving high and sustained concentration of antibiotic at the site of infection; reducing the potential for systemic absorption and toxicity, and total volumes of antibiotic required are reduced, thereby also reducing the risk of antibiotic misuse. Topical antibiotics applied over certain types of surgical wounds have been reported to reduce the risk of surgical site infections. However, there are certain general causes for concern with topical administration of antibiotics. Some systemic absorption of the antibiotic may occur; the quantity of antibiotic applied is difficult to accurately dose, and there is also the possibility of local hypersensitivity reactions or contact dermatitis occurring. It is recommended to administer antibiotics as soon as possible, especially in life-threatening infections. Many emergency departments stock antibiotics for this purpose. + +Global consumption +Antibiotic consumption varies widely between countries. The WHO report on surveillance of antibiotic consumption published in 2018 analysed 2015 data from 65 countries. As measured in defined daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day. Mongolia had the highest consumption with a rate of 64.4. Burundi had the lowest at 4.4. Amoxicillin and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid were the most frequently consumed. + +Side effects + +Antibiotics are screened for any negative effects before their approval for clinical use, and are usually considered safe and well tolerated. However, some antibiotics have been associated with a wide extent of adverse side effects ranging from mild to very severe depending on the type of antibiotic used, the microbes targeted, and the individual patient. Side effects may reflect the pharmacological or toxicological properties of the antibiotic or may involve hypersensitivity or allergic reactions. Adverse effects range from fever and nausea to major allergic reactions, including photodermatitis and anaphylaxis. + +Common side effects of oral antibiotics include diarrhea, resulting from disruption of the species composition in the intestinal flora, resulting, for example, in overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria, such as Clostridium difficile. Taking probiotics during the course of antibiotic treatment can help prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Antibacterials can also affect the vaginal flora, and may lead to overgrowth of yeast species of the genus Candida in the vulvo-vaginal area. Additional side effects can result from interaction with other drugs, such as the possibility of tendon damage from the administration of a quinolone antibiotic with a systemic corticosteroid. + +Some antibiotics may also damage the mitochondrion, a bacteria-derived organelle found in eukaryotic, including human, cells. Mitochondrial damage cause oxidative stress in cells and has been suggested as a mechanism for side effects from fluoroquinolones. They are also known to affect chloroplasts. + +Interactions + +Birth control pills +There are few well-controlled studies on whether antibiotic use increases the risk of oral contraceptive failure. The majority of studies indicate antibiotics do not interfere with birth control pills, such as clinical studies that suggest the failure rate of contraceptive pills caused by antibiotics is very low (about 1%). Situations that may increase the risk of oral contraceptive failure include non-compliance (missing taking the pill), vomiting, or diarrhea. Gastrointestinal disorders or interpatient variability in oral contraceptive absorption affecting ethinylestradiol serum levels in the blood. Women with menstrual irregularities may be at higher risk of failure and should be advised to use backup contraception during antibiotic treatment and for one week after its completion. If patient-specific risk factors for reduced oral contraceptive efficacy are suspected, backup contraception is recommended. + +In cases where antibiotics have been suggested to affect the efficiency of birth control pills, such as for the broad-spectrum antibiotic rifampicin, these cases may be due to an increase in the activities of hepatic liver enzymes' causing increased breakdown of the pill's active ingredients. Effects on the intestinal flora, which might result in reduced absorption of estrogens in the colon, have also been suggested, but such suggestions have been inconclusive and controversial. Clinicians have recommended that extra contraceptive measures be applied during therapies using antibiotics that are suspected to interact with oral contraceptives. More studies on the possible interactions between antibiotics and birth control pills (oral contraceptives) are required as well as careful assessment of patient-specific risk factors for potential oral contractive pill failure prior to dismissing the need for backup contraception. + +Alcohol +Interactions between alcohol and certain antibiotics may occur and may cause side effects and decreased effectiveness of antibiotic therapy. While moderate alcohol consumption is unlikely to interfere with many common antibiotics, there are specific types of antibiotics with which alcohol consumption may cause serious side effects. Therefore, potential risks of side effects and effectiveness depend on the type of antibiotic administered. + +Antibiotics such as metronidazole, tinidazole, cephamandole, latamoxef, cefoperazone, cefmenoxime, and furazolidone, cause a disulfiram-like chemical reaction with alcohol by inhibiting its breakdown by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, which may result in vomiting, nausea, and shortness of breath. In addition, the efficacy of doxycycline and erythromycin succinate may be reduced by alcohol consumption. Other effects of alcohol on antibiotic activity include altered activity of the liver enzymes that break down the antibiotic compound. + +Pharmacodynamics + +The successful outcome of antimicrobial therapy with antibacterial compounds depends on several factors. These include host defense mechanisms, the location of infection, and the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of the antibacterial. The bactericidal activity of antibacterials may depend on the bacterial growth phase, and it often requires ongoing metabolic activity and division of bacterial cells. These findings are based on laboratory studies, and in clinical settings have also been shown to eliminate bacterial infection. Since the activity of antibacterials depends frequently on its concentration, in vitro characterization of antibacterial activity commonly includes the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration of an antibacterial. +To predict clinical outcome, the antimicrobial activity of an antibacterial is usually combined with its pharmacokinetic profile, and several pharmacological parameters are used as markers of drug efficacy. + +Combination therapy + +In important infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, combination therapy (i.e., the concurrent application of two or more antibiotics) has been used to delay or prevent the emergence of resistance. In acute bacterial infections, antibiotics as part of combination therapy are prescribed for their synergistic effects to improve treatment outcome as the combined effect of both antibiotics is better than their individual effect. Fosfomycin has the highest number of synergistic combinations among antibiotics and is almost always used as a partner drug. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections may be treated with a combination therapy of fusidic acid and rifampicin. Antibiotics used in combination may also be antagonistic and the combined effects of the two antibiotics may be less than if one of the antibiotics was given as a monotherapy. For example, chloramphenicol and tetracyclines are antagonists to penicillins. However, this can vary depending on the species of bacteria. In general, combinations of a bacteriostatic antibiotic and bactericidal antibiotic are antagonistic. + +In addition to combining one antibiotic with another, antibiotics are sometimes co-administered with resistance-modifying agents. For example, β-lactam antibiotics may be used in combination with β-lactamase inhibitors, such as clavulanic acid or sulbactam, when a patient is infected with a β-lactamase-producing strain of bacteria. + +Classes + +Antibiotics are commonly classified based on their mechanism of action, chemical structure, or spectrum of activity. Most target bacterial functions or growth processes. Those that target the bacterial cell wall (penicillins and cephalosporins) or the cell membrane (polymyxins), or interfere with essential bacterial enzymes (rifamycins, lipiarmycins, quinolones, and sulfonamides) have bactericidal activities, killing the bacteria. Protein synthesis inhibitors (macrolides, lincosamides, and tetracyclines) are usually bacteriostatic, inhibiting further growth (with the exception of bactericidal aminoglycosides). Further categorization is based on their target specificity. "Narrow-spectrum" antibiotics target specific types of bacteria, such as gram-negative or gram-positive, whereas broad-spectrum antibiotics affect a wide range of bacteria. Following a 40-year break in discovering classes of antibacterial compounds, four new classes of antibiotics were introduced to clinical use in the late 2000s and early 2010s: cyclic lipopeptides (such as daptomycin), glycylcyclines (such as tigecycline), oxazolidinones (such as linezolid), and lipiarmycins (such as fidaxomicin). + +Production + +With advances in medicinal chemistry, most modern antibacterials are semisynthetic modifications of various natural compounds. These include, for example, the beta-lactam antibiotics, which include the penicillins (produced by fungi in the genus Penicillium), the cephalosporins, and the carbapenems. Compounds that are still isolated from living organisms are the aminoglycosides, whereas other antibacterials—for example, the sulfonamides, the quinolones, and the oxazolidinones—are produced solely by chemical synthesis. Many antibacterial compounds are relatively small molecules with a molecular weight of less than 1000 daltons. + +Since the first pioneering efforts of Howard Florey and Chain in 1939, the importance of antibiotics, including antibacterials, to medicine has led to intense research into producing antibacterials at large scales. Following screening of antibacterials against a wide range of bacteria, production of the active compounds is carried out using fermentation, usually in strongly aerobic conditions. + +Resistance + +The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a common phenomenon mainly caused by the overuse/misuse. It represents a threat to health globally. + +Emergence of resistance often reflects evolutionary processes that take place during antibiotic therapy. The antibiotic treatment may select for bacterial strains with physiologically or genetically enhanced capacity to survive high doses of antibiotics. Under certain conditions, it may result in preferential growth of resistant bacteria, while growth of susceptible bacteria is inhibited by the drug. For example, antibacterial selection for strains having previously acquired antibacterial-resistance genes was demonstrated in 1943 by the Luria–Delbrück experiment. Antibiotics such as penicillin and erythromycin, which used to have a high efficacy against many bacterial species and strains, have become less effective, due to the increased resistance of many bacterial strains. + +Resistance may take the form of biodegradation of pharmaceuticals, such as sulfamethazine-degrading soil bacteria introduced to sulfamethazine through medicated pig feces. +The survival of bacteria often results from an inheritable resistance, but the growth of resistance to antibacterials also occurs through horizontal gene transfer. Horizontal transfer is more likely to happen in locations of frequent antibiotic use. + +Antibacterial resistance may impose a biological cost, thereby reducing fitness of resistant strains, which can limit the spread of antibacterial-resistant bacteria, for example, in the absence of antibacterial compounds. Additional mutations, however, may compensate for this fitness cost and can aid the survival of these bacteria. + +Paleontological data show that both antibiotics and antibiotic resistance are ancient compounds and mechanisms. Useful antibiotic targets are those for which mutations negatively impact bacterial reproduction or viability. + +Several molecular mechanisms of antibacterial resistance exist. Intrinsic antibacterial resistance may be part of the genetic makeup of bacterial strains. For example, an antibiotic target may be absent from the bacterial genome. Acquired resistance results from a mutation in the bacterial chromosome or the acquisition of extra-chromosomal DNA. Antibacterial-producing bacteria have evolved resistance mechanisms that have been shown to be similar to, and may have been transferred to, antibacterial-resistant strains. The spread of antibacterial resistance often occurs through vertical transmission of mutations during growth and by genetic recombination of DNA by horizontal genetic exchange. For instance, antibacterial resistance genes can be exchanged between different bacterial strains or species via plasmids that carry these resistance genes. Plasmids that carry several different resistance genes can confer resistance to multiple antibacterials. Cross-resistance to several antibacterials may also occur when a resistance mechanism encoded by a single gene conveys resistance to more than one antibacterial compound. + +Antibacterial-resistant strains and species, sometimes referred to as "superbugs", now contribute to the emergence of diseases that were, for a while, well controlled. For example, emergent bacterial strains causing tuberculosis that are resistant to previously effective antibacterial treatments pose many therapeutic challenges. Every year, nearly half a million new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) are estimated to occur worldwide. For example, NDM-1 is a newly identified enzyme conveying bacterial resistance to a broad range of beta-lactam antibacterials. The United Kingdom's Health Protection Agency has stated that "most isolates with NDM-1 enzyme are resistant to all standard intravenous antibiotics for treatment of severe infections." On 26 May 2016, an E. coli "superbug" was identified in the United States resistant to colistin, "the last line of defence" antibiotic. +In recent years, even anaerobic bacteria, historically considered less concerning in terms of resistance, have demonstrated high rates of antibiotic resistance, particularly Bacteroides, for which resistance rates to penicillin have been reported to exceed 90%. + +Misuse + +Per The ICU Book "The first rule of antibiotics is to try not to use them, and the second rule is try not to use too many of them." Inappropriate antibiotic treatment and overuse of antibiotics have contributed to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. However, potential harm from antibiotics extends beyond selection of antimicrobial resistance and their overuse is associated with adverse effects for patients themselves, seen most clearly in critically ill patients in Intensive care units. Self-prescribing of antibiotics is an example of misuse. Many antibiotics are frequently prescribed to treat symptoms or diseases that do not respond to antibiotics or that are likely to resolve without treatment. Also, incorrect or suboptimal antibiotics are prescribed for certain bacterial infections. The overuse of antibiotics, like penicillin and erythromycin, has been associated with emerging antibiotic resistance since the 1950s. Widespread usage of antibiotics in hospitals has also been associated with increases in bacterial strains and species that no longer respond to treatment with the most common antibiotics. + +Common forms of antibiotic misuse include excessive use of prophylactic antibiotics in travelers and failure of medical professionals to prescribe the correct dosage of antibiotics on the basis of the patient's weight and history of prior use. Other forms of misuse include failure to take the entire prescribed course of the antibiotic, incorrect dosage and administration, or failure to rest for sufficient recovery. Inappropriate antibiotic treatment, for example, is their prescription to treat viral infections such as the common cold. One study on respiratory tract infections found "physicians were more likely to prescribe antibiotics to patients who appeared to expect them". Multifactorial interventions aimed at both physicians and patients can reduce inappropriate prescription of antibiotics. The lack of rapid point of care diagnostic tests, particularly in resource-limited settings is considered one of the drivers of antibiotic misuse. + +Several organizations concerned with antimicrobial resistance are lobbying to eliminate the unnecessary use of antibiotics. The issues of misuse and overuse of antibiotics have been addressed by the formation of the US Interagency Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance. This task force aims to actively address antimicrobial resistance, and is coordinated by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health, as well as other US agencies. A non-governmental organization campaign group is Keep Antibiotics Working. In France, an "Antibiotics are not automatic" government campaign started in 2002 and led to a marked reduction of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions, especially in children. + +The emergence of antibiotic resistance has prompted restrictions on their use in the UK in 1970 (Swann report 1969), and the European Union has banned the use of antibiotics as growth-promotional agents since 2003. Moreover, several organizations (including the World Health Organization, the National Academy of Sciences, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration) have advocated restricting the amount of antibiotic use in food animal production. However, commonly there are delays in regulatory and legislative actions to limit the use of antibiotics, attributable partly to resistance against such regulation by industries using or selling antibiotics, and to the time required for research to test causal links between their use and resistance to them. Two federal bills (S.742 and H.R. 2562) aimed at phasing out nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in US food animals were proposed, but have not passed. These bills were endorsed by public health and medical organizations, including the American Holistic Nurses' Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Public Health Association. + +Despite pledges by food companies and restaurants to reduce or eliminate meat that comes from animals treated with antibiotics, the purchase of antibiotics for use on farm animals has been increasing every year. + +There has been extensive use of antibiotics in animal husbandry. In the United States, the question of emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains due to use of antibiotics in livestock was raised by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1977. In March 2012, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruling in an action brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council and others, ordered the FDA to revoke approvals for the use of antibiotics in livestock, which violated FDA regulations. + +Studies have shown that common misconceptions about the effectiveness and necessity of antibiotics to treat common mild illnesses contribute to their overuse. + +Other forms of antibiotic associated harm include anaphylaxis, drug toxicity most notably kidney and liver damage, and super-infections with resistant organisms. Antibiotics are also known to affect mitochondrial function, and this may contribute to the bioenergetic failure of immune cells seen in sepsis. They also alter the microbiome of the gut, lungs and skin, which may be associated with adverse effects such as Clostridium difficile associated diarrhoea. Whilst antibiotics can clearly be lifesaving in patients with bacterial infections, their overuse, especially in patients where infections are hard to diagnose, can lead to harm via multiple mechanisms. + +History + +Before the early 20th century, treatments for infections were based primarily on medicinal folklore. Mixtures with antimicrobial properties that were used in treatments of infections were described over 2,000 years ago. Many ancient cultures, including the ancient Egyptians and ancient Greeks, used specially selected mold and plant materials to treat infections. Nubian mummies studied in the 1990s were found to contain significant levels of tetracycline. The beer brewed at that time was conjectured to have been the source. + +The use of antibiotics in modern medicine began with the discovery of synthetic antibiotics derived from dyes.Various Essential oils have been shown to have anti-microbial properties.Along with this, the plants from which these oils have been derived from can be used as niche anti-microbial agents. + +Synthetic antibiotics derived from dyes + +Synthetic antibiotic chemotherapy as a science and development of antibacterials began in Germany with Paul Ehrlich in the late 1880s. Ehrlich noted certain dyes would colour human, animal, or bacterial cells, whereas others did not. He then proposed the idea that it might be possible to create chemicals that would act as a selective drug that would bind to and kill bacteria without harming the human host. After screening hundreds of dyes against various organisms, in 1907, he discovered a medicinally useful drug, the first synthetic antibacterial organoarsenic compound salvarsan, now called arsphenamine. + +This heralded the era of antibacterial treatment that was begun with the discovery of a series of arsenic-derived synthetic antibiotics by both Alfred Bertheim and Ehrlich in 1907. Ehrlich and Bertheim had experimented with various chemicals derived from dyes to treat trypanosomiasis in mice and spirochaeta infection in rabbits. While their early compounds were too toxic, Ehrlich and Sahachiro Hata, a Japanese bacteriologist working with Erlich in the quest for a drug to treat syphilis, achieved success with the 606th compound in their series of experiments. In 1910, Ehrlich and Hata announced their discovery, which they called drug "606", at the Congress for Internal Medicine at Wiesbaden. The Hoechst company began to market the compound toward the end of 1910 under the name Salvarsan, now known as arsphenamine. The drug was used to treat syphilis in the first half of the 20th century. In 1908, Ehrlich received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his contributions to immunology. Hata was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911 and for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1912 and 1913. + +The first sulfonamide and the first systemically active antibacterial drug, Prontosil, was developed by a research team led by Gerhard Domagk in 1932 or 1933 at the Bayer Laboratories of the IG Farben conglomerate in Germany, for which Domagk received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Sulfanilamide, the active drug of Prontosil, was not patentable as it had already been in use in the dye industry for some years. Prontosil had a relatively broad effect against Gram-positive cocci, but not against enterobacteria. Research was stimulated apace by its success. The discovery and development of this sulfonamide drug opened the era of antibacterials. + +Penicillin and other natural antibiotics + +Observations about the growth of some microorganisms inhibiting the growth of other microorganisms have been reported since the late 19th century. These observations of antibiosis between microorganisms led to the discovery of natural antibacterials. Louis Pasteur observed, "if we could intervene in the antagonism observed between some bacteria, it would offer perhaps the greatest hopes for therapeutics". + +In 1874, physician Sir William Roberts noted that cultures of the mould Penicillium glaucum that is used in the making of some types of blue cheese did not display bacterial contamination. In 1876, physicist John Tyndall also contributed to this field. + +In 1895 Vincenzo Tiberio, Italian physician, published a paper on the antibacterial power of some extracts of mold. + +In 1897, doctoral student Ernest Duchesne submitted a dissertation, "" (Contribution to the study of vital competition in micro-organisms: antagonism between moulds and microbes), the first known scholarly work to consider the therapeutic capabilities of moulds resulting from their anti-microbial activity. In his thesis, Duchesne proposed that bacteria and moulds engage in a perpetual battle for survival. Duchesne observed that E. coli was eliminated by Penicillium glaucum when they were both grown in the same culture. He also observed that when he inoculated laboratory animals with lethal doses of typhoid bacilli together with Penicillium glaucum, the animals did not contract typhoid. Duchesne's army service after getting his degree prevented him from doing any further research. Duchesne died of tuberculosis, a disease now treated by antibiotics. + +In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming postulated the existence of penicillin, a molecule produced by certain moulds that kills or stops the growth of certain kinds of bacteria. Fleming was working on a culture of disease-causing bacteria when he noticed the spores of a green mold, Penicillium rubens, in one of his culture plates. He observed that the presence of the mould killed or prevented the growth of the bacteria. Fleming postulated that the mould must secrete an antibacterial substance, which he named penicillin in 1928. Fleming believed that its antibacterial properties could be exploited for chemotherapy. He initially characterised some of its biological properties, and attempted to use a crude preparation to treat some infections, but he was unable to pursue its further development without the aid of trained chemists. + +Ernst Chain, Howard Florey and Edward Abraham succeeded in purifying the first penicillin, penicillin G, in 1942, but it did not become widely available outside the Allied military before 1945. Later, Norman Heatley developed the back extraction technique for efficiently purifying penicillin in bulk. The chemical structure of penicillin was first proposed by Abraham in 1942 and then later confirmed by Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin in 1945. Purified penicillin displayed potent antibacterial activity against a wide range of bacteria and had low toxicity in humans. Furthermore, its activity was not inhibited by biological constituents such as pus, unlike the synthetic sulfonamides. (see below) The development of penicillin led to renewed interest in the search for antibiotic compounds with similar efficacy and safety. For their successful development of penicillin, which Fleming had accidentally discovered but could not develop himself, as a therapeutic drug, Chain and Florey shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in Medicine with Fleming. + +Florey credited René Dubos with pioneering the approach of deliberately and systematically searching for antibacterial compounds, which had led to the discovery of gramicidin and had revived Florey's research in penicillin. In 1939, coinciding with the start of World War II, Dubos had reported the discovery of the first naturally derived antibiotic, tyrothricin, a compound of 20% gramicidin and 80% tyrocidine, from Bacillus brevis. It was one of the first commercially manufactured antibiotics and was very effective in treating wounds and ulcers during World War II. Gramicidin, however, could not be used systemically because of toxicity. Tyrocidine also proved too toxic for systemic usage. Research results obtained during that period were not shared between the Axis and the Allied powers during World War II and limited access during the Cold War. + +Late 20th century +During the mid-20th century, the number of new antibiotic substances introduced for medical use increased significantly. From 1935 to 1968, 12 new classes were launched. However, after this, the number of new classes dropped markedly, with only two new classes introduced between 1969 and 2003. + +Antibiotic pipeline +Both the WHO and the Infectious Disease Society of America report that the weak antibiotic pipeline does not match bacteria's increasing ability to develop resistance. The Infectious Disease Society of America report noted that the number of new antibiotics approved for marketing per year had been declining and identified seven antibiotics against the Gram-negative bacilli currently in phase 2 or phase 3 clinical trials. However, these drugs did not address the entire spectrum of resistance of Gram-negative bacilli. According to the WHO fifty one new therapeutic entities - antibiotics (including combinations), are in phase 1-3 clinical trials as of May 2017. Antibiotics targeting multidrug-resistant Gram-positive pathogens remains a high priority. + +A few antibiotics have received marketing authorization in the last seven years. The cephalosporin ceftaroline and the lipoglycopeptides oritavancin and telavancin for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infection and community-acquired bacterial pneumonia. The lipoglycopeptide dalbavancin and the oxazolidinone tedizolid has also been approved for use for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infection. The first in a new class of narrow spectrum macrocyclic antibiotics, fidaxomicin, has been approved for the treatment of C. difficile colitis. New cephalosporin-lactamase inhibitor combinations also approved include ceftazidime-avibactam and ceftolozane-avibactam for complicated urinary tract infection and intra-abdominal infection. + +Possible improvements include clarification of clinical trial regulations by FDA. Furthermore, appropriate economic incentives could persuade pharmaceutical companies to invest in this endeavor. In the US, the Antibiotic Development to Advance Patient Treatment (ADAPT) Act was introduced with the aim of fast tracking the drug development of antibiotics to combat the growing threat of 'superbugs'. Under this Act, FDA can approve antibiotics and antifungals treating life-threatening infections based on smaller clinical trials. The CDC will monitor the use of antibiotics and the emerging resistance, and publish the data. The FDA antibiotics labeling process, 'Susceptibility Test Interpretive Criteria for Microbial Organisms' or 'breakpoints', will provide accurate data to healthcare professionals. According to Allan Coukell, senior director for health programs at The Pew Charitable Trusts, "By allowing drug developers to rely on smaller datasets, and clarifying FDA's authority to tolerate a higher level of uncertainty for these drugs when making a risk/benefit calculation, ADAPT would make the clinical trials more feasible." + +Replenishing the antibiotic pipeline and developing other new therapies +Because antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains continue to emerge and spread, there is a constant need to develop new antibacterial treatments. Current strategies include traditional chemistry-based approaches such as natural product-based drug discovery, newer chemistry-based approaches such as drug design, traditional biology-based approaches such as immunoglobulin therapy, and experimental biology-based approaches such as phage therapy, fecal microbiota transplants, antisense RNA-based treatments, and CRISPR-Cas9-based treatments. + +Natural product-based antibiotic discovery + +Most of the antibiotics in current use are natural products or natural product derivatives, and bacterial, fungal, plant and animal extracts are being screened in the search for new antibiotics. Organisms may be selected for testing based on ecological, ethnomedical, genomic, or historical rationales. Medicinal plants, for example, are screened on the basis that they are used by traditional healers to prevent or cure infection and may therefore contain antibacterial compounds. Also, soil bacteria are screened on the basis that, historically, they have been a very rich source of antibiotics (with 70 to 80% of antibiotics in current use derived from the actinomycetes). + +In addition to screening natural products for direct antibacterial activity, they are sometimes screened for the ability to suppress antibiotic resistance and antibiotic tolerance. For example, some secondary metabolites inhibit drug efflux pumps, thereby increasing the concentration of antibiotic able to reach its cellular target and decreasing bacterial resistance to the antibiotic. Natural products known to inhibit bacterial efflux pumps include the alkaloid lysergol, the carotenoids capsanthin and capsorubin, and the flavonoids rotenone and chrysin. Other natural products, this time primary metabolites rather than secondary metabolites, have been shown to eradicate antibiotic tolerance. For example, glucose, mannitol, and fructose reduce antibiotic tolerance in Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, rendering them more susceptible to killing by aminoglycoside antibiotics. + +Natural products may be screened for the ability to suppress bacterial virulence factors too. Virulence factors are molecules, cellular structures and regulatory systems that enable bacteria to evade the body's immune defenses (e.g. urease, staphyloxanthin), move towards, attach to, and/or invade human cells (e.g. type IV pili, adhesins, internalins), coordinate the activation of virulence genes (e.g. quorum sensing), and cause disease (e.g. exotoxins). Examples of natural products with antivirulence activity include the flavonoid epigallocatechin gallate (which inhibits listeriolysin O), the quinone tetrangomycin (which inhibits staphyloxanthin), and the sesquiterpene zerumbone (which inhibits Acinetobacter baumannii motility). + +Immunoglobulin therapy + +Antibodies (anti-tetanus immunoglobulin) have been used in the treatment and prevention of tetanus since the 1910s, and this approach continues to be a useful way of controlling bacterial diseases. The monoclonal antibody bezlotoxumab, for example, has been approved by the US FDA and EMA for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection, and other monoclonal antibodies are in development (e.g. AR-301 for the adjunctive treatment of S. aureus ventilator-associated pneumonia). Antibody treatments act by binding to and neutralizing bacterial exotoxins and other virulence factors. + +Phage therapy + +Phage therapy is under investigation as a method of treating antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Phage therapy involves infecting bacterial pathogens with viruses. Bacteriophages and their host ranges are extremely specific for certain bacteria, thus, unlike antibiotics, they do not disturb the host organism's intestinal microbiota. Bacteriophages, also known as phages, infect and kill bacteria primarily during lytic cycles. Phages insert their DNA into the bacterium, where it is transcribed and used to make new phages, after which the cell will lyse, releasing new phage that are able to infect and destroy further bacteria of the same strain. The high specificity of phage protects "good" bacteria from destruction. + +Some disadvantages to the use of bacteriophages also exist, however. Bacteriophages may harbour virulence factors or toxic genes in their genomes and, prior to use, it may be prudent to identify genes with similarity to known virulence factors or toxins by genomic sequencing. In addition, the oral and IV administration of phages for the eradication of bacterial infections poses a much higher safety risk than topical application. Also, there is the additional concern of uncertain immune responses to these large antigenic cocktails. + +There are considerable regulatory hurdles that must be cleared for such therapies. Despite numerous challenges, the use of bacteriophages as a replacement for antimicrobial agents against MDR pathogens that no longer respond to conventional antibiotics, remains an attractive option. + +Fecal microbiota transplants + +Fecal microbiota transplants involve transferring the full intestinal microbiota from a healthy human donor (in the form of stool) to patients with C. difficile infection. Although this procedure has not been officially approved by the US FDA, its use is permitted under some conditions in patients with antibiotic-resistant C. difficile infection. Cure rates are around 90%, and work is underway to develop stool banks, standardized products, and methods of oral delivery. Fecal microbiota transplantation has also been used more recently for inflammatory bowel diseases. + +Antisense RNA-based treatments + +Antisense RNA-based treatment (also known as gene silencing therapy) involves (a) identifying bacterial genes that encode essential proteins (e.g. the Pseudomonas aeruginosa genes acpP, lpxC, and rpsJ), (b) synthesizing single stranded RNA that is complementary to the mRNA encoding these essential proteins, and (c) delivering the single stranded RNA to the infection site using cell-penetrating peptides or liposomes. The antisense RNA then hybridizes with the bacterial mRNA and blocks its translation into the essential protein. Antisense RNA-based treatment has been shown to be effective in in vivo models of P. aeruginosa pneumonia. + +In addition to silencing essential bacterial genes, antisense RNA can be used to silence bacterial genes responsible for antibiotic resistance. For example, antisense RNA has been developed that silences the S. aureus mecA gene (the gene that encodes modified penicillin-binding protein 2a and renders S. aureus strains methicillin-resistant). Antisense RNA targeting mecA mRNA has been shown to restore the susceptibility of methicillin-resistant staphylococci to oxacillin in both in vitro and in vivo studies. + +CRISPR-Cas9-based treatments +In the early 2000s, a system was discovered that enables bacteria to defend themselves against invading viruses. The system, known as CRISPR-Cas9, consists of (a) an enzyme that destroys DNA (the nuclease Cas9) and (b) the DNA sequences of previously encountered viral invaders (CRISPR). These viral DNA sequences enable the nuclease to target foreign (viral) rather than self (bacterial) DNA. + +Although the function of CRISPR-Cas9 in nature is to protect bacteria, the DNA sequences in the CRISPR component of the system can be modified so that the Cas9 nuclease targets bacterial resistance genes or bacterial virulence genes instead of viral genes. The modified CRISPR-Cas9 system can then be administered to bacterial pathogens using plasmids or bacteriophages. This approach has successfully been used to silence antibiotic resistance and reduce the virulence of enterohemorrhagic E. coli in an in vivo model of infection. + +Reducing the selection pressure for antibiotic resistance + +In addition to developing new antibacterial treatments, it is important to reduce the selection pressure for the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance. Strategies to accomplish this include well-established infection control measures such as infrastructure improvement (e.g. less crowded housing), better sanitation (e.g. safe drinking water and food) and vaccine development, other approaches such as antibiotic stewardship, and experimental approaches such as the use of prebiotics and probiotics to prevent infection. Antibiotic cycling, where antibiotics are alternated by clinicians to treat microbial diseases, is proposed, but recent studies revealed such strategies are ineffective against antibiotic resistance. + +Vaccines +Vaccines rely on immune modulation or augmentation. Vaccination either excites or reinforces the immune competence of a host to ward off infection, leading to the activation of macrophages, the production of antibodies, inflammation, and other classic immune reactions. Antibacterial vaccines have been responsible for a drastic reduction in global bacterial diseases. Vaccines made from attenuated whole cells or lysates have been replaced largely by less reactogenic, cell-free vaccines consisting of purified components, including capsular polysaccharides and their conjugates, to protein carriers, as well as inactivated toxins (toxoids) and proteins. + +See also + +References + +Further reading + +External links + + + + +Anti-infective agents +. +Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, filmmaker, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder best known for his roles in high-profile action movies. He served as the 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011 and was among Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world in 2004 and 2007. + +Schwarzenegger began lifting weights at age 15 and won the Mr. Universe title aged 20, and subsequently the Mr. Olympia title seven times. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time, and has written many books and articles about it. The Arnold Sports Festival, considered the second-most important bodybuilding event after Mr. Olympia, is named after him. He appeared in the bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron (1977). He retired from bodybuilding and gained worldwide fame as a Hollywood action star, with his breakthrough in the sword and sorcery epic Conan the Barbarian (1982), a box-office hit with a sequel in 1984. After playing the title character in the science fiction film The Terminator (1984), he starred in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and three other sequels. His other successful action films included Commando (1985), The Running Man (1987), Predator (1987), Total Recall (1990), and True Lies (1994), in addition to comedy films such as Twins (1988), Kindergarten Cop (1990) and Jingle All the Way (1996). He is the founder of the film production company Oak Productions. + +As a registered Republican, Schwarzenegger chaired the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports during most of the George H. W. Bush administration. On October 7, 2003, he was elected Governor of California in a special recall election to replace then-Governor Gray Davis. He received 48.6% of the vote, 17 points ahead of Democrat runner-up Cruz Bustamante. He was sworn in on November 17 to serve the remainder of Davis' term, and was reelected in the 2006 California gubernatorial election with an increased vote share of 55.9% to serve a full term. In 2011 he reached his term limit as governor and returned to acting. + +Schwarzenegger was nicknamed the "Austrian Oak" in his bodybuilding days, "Arnie" or "Schwarzy" during his acting career, and "the Governator" (a portmanteau of "Governor" and "Terminator") during his political career. He married Maria Shriver, a niece of President John F. Kennedy, in 1986. They separated in 2011 after he admitted to having fathered a child with their housemaid in 1997; their divorce was finalized in 2021. + +Early life and education + +Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger was born in Thal on July 30, 1947, the second son of Gustav Schwarzenegger and his wife Aurelia (née Jadrny). Gustav was the local chief of police, and after the Anschluss in 1938, joined the Nazi Party and, in 1939 the Sturmabteilung (SA). In World War II, Gustav served as a military policeman in the invasions of Poland, France and the Soviet Union, including the siege of Leningrad, rising to the title of Hauptfeldwebel. He was wounded in the Battle of Stalingrad, and was discharged in 1943 following a bout of malaria. According to Holocaust scholar Michael Berenbaum, Gustav Schwarzenegger served "in theaters of the war where atrocities were committed. But there is no way to know from the documents whether he played a role." Gustav's background received wide press attention during the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election in which Schwarzenegger was elected. + +Gustav married Aurelia on October 20, 1945; he was 38 and she was 23. According to Schwarzenegger, his parents were very strict: "Back then in Austria it was a very different world [...] if we did something bad or we disobeyed our parents, the rod was not spared." He grew up in a Catholic family. Gustav preferred his elder son, Meinhard, over Arnold. His favoritism was "strong and blatant", which stemmed from unfounded suspicion that Arnold was not his biological child. Schwarzenegger has said that his father had "no patience for listening or understanding your problems". He had a good relationship with his mother, with whom he kept in touch until her death. + +At school, Schwarzenegger was reportedly academically average but stood out for his "cheerful, good-humored, and exuberant" character. He struggled with reading and was later diagnosed as being dyslexic. Money was a problem in their household; Schwarzenegger recalled that one of the highlights of his youth was when the family bought a refrigerator. His father Gustav was an athlete, and wished for his sons to become champions in Bavarian curling. Influenced by his father, Schwarzenegger played several sports as a boy. + +Schwarzenegger began weight training in 1960 when his football coach took his team to a local gym. At age 14, he chose bodybuilding over football as a career. He later said, "I actually started weight training when I was 15, but I'd been participating in sports, like soccer, for years, so I felt that although I was slim, I was well-developed, at least enough so that I could start going to the gym and start Olympic lifting." However, his official website biography claims that "at 14, he started an intensive training program with Dan Farmer, studied psychology at 15 (to learn more about the power of mind over body) and at 17, officially started his competitive career." During a speech in 2001, he said, "My own plan formed when I was 14 years old. My father had wanted me to be a police officer like he was. My mother wanted me to go to trade school." + +Schwarzenegger took to visiting a gym in Graz, where he also frequented the local movie theaters to see films with bodybuilding idols such as Reg Park, Steve Reeves and Johnny Weissmuller. When Reeves died in 2000, Schwarzenegger fondly remembered him: "As a teenager, I grew up with Steve Reeves. His remarkable accomplishments allowed me a sense of what was possible when others around me didn't always understand my dreams. Steve Reeves has been part of everything I've ever been fortunate enough to achieve." In 1961, Schwarzenegger met former Mr. Austria Kurt Marnul, who invited him to train at the gym in Graz. He was so dedicated as a youngster that he broke into the local gym on weekends to train even when it was closed. "It would make me sick to miss a workout... I knew I couldn't look at myself in the mirror the next morning if I didn't do it." When asked about his first cinema experience as a boy, he replied: "I was very young, but I remember my father taking me to the Austrian theaters and seeing some newsreels. The first real movie I saw, that I distinctly remember, was a John Wayne movie." In Graz, he was mentored by Alfred Gerstl, who had Jewish ancestry and later became president of the Federal Council, and befriended his son Karl. + +Schwarzenegger's brother, Meinhard, died in a car crash on May 20, 1971. He was driving drunk and died instantly. Schwarzenegger did not attend his funeral. Meinhard was engaged to Erika Knapp, and they had a three-year-old son named Patrick. Schwarzenegger paid for Patrick's education and helped him to move to the U.S. Schwarzenegger's father, Gustav, died of a stroke on December 13, 1972. In Pumping Iron, Schwarzenegger claimed that he did not attend his father's funeral because he was training for a bodybuilding contest. Later, he and the film's producer said this story was taken from another bodybuilder to show the extremes some would go to for their sport and to make Schwarzenegger's image colder to create controversy for the film. However, Barbara Baker, his first serious girlfriend, recalled that he informed her of his father's death without emotion and that he never spoke of his brother. Over time, he has given at least three versions of why he was absent from his father's funeral. + +In an interview with Fortune in 2004, Schwarzenegger told how he suffered what "would now be called child abuse" at the hands of his father: "My hair was pulled. I was hit with belts. So was the kid next door. It was just the way it was. Many of the children I've seen were broken by their parents, which was the German-Austrian mentality. They didn't want to create an individual. It was all about conforming. I was one who did not conform, and whose will could not be broken. Therefore, I became a rebel. Every time I got hit, and every time someone said, 'You can't do this,' I said, 'This is not going to be for much longer because I'm going to move out of here. I want to be rich. I want to be somebody. + +Schwarzenegger served in the Austrian Army in 1965 to fulfill the one year of service required at the time of all 18-year-old Austrian males. During his army service, he won the Junior Mr. Europe contest. He went AWOL during basic training so he could take part in the competition and then spent a week in military prison: "Participating in the competition meant so much to me that I didn't carefully think through the consequences." He entered another bodybuilding contest in Graz, at Steirerhof Hotel, where he placed second. He was voted "best-built man of Europe", which made him famous in bodybuilding circles. "The Mr. Universe title was my ticket to America—the land of opportunity, where I could become a star and get rich." Schwarzenegger made his first plane trip in 1966, attending the NABBA Mr. Universe competition in London. He placed second in the Mr. Universe competition, not having the muscle definition of American winner Chester Yorton. + +Charles "Wag" Bennett, one of the judges at the 1966 competition, was impressed with Schwarzenegger and offered to coach him. As Schwarzenegger had little money, Bennett invited him to stay in his crowded family home above one of his two gyms in Forest Gate, London. Yorton's leg definition had been judged superior, and Schwarzenegger, under a training program devised by Bennett, concentrated on improving his. Staying in the East End of London helped Schwarzenegger improve his rudimentary English. Living with the Bennetts also changed him as a person: "Being with them made me so much more sophisticated. When you're the age I was then, you're always looking for approval, for love, for attention and also for guidance. At the time, I wasn't really aware of that. But now, looking back, I see that the Bennett family fulfilled all those needs. Especially my need to be the best in the world. To be recognized and to feel unique and special. They saw that I needed that care and attention and love." + +Also in 1966, at Bennett's home, Schwarzenegger had the opportunity to meet childhood idol Reg Park, who became his friend and mentor. The training paid off and, in 1967, Schwarzenegger won the title for the first time, becoming the youngest ever Mr. Universe at age 20. He would go on to win the title another three times. He then returned to Munich, where he attended business school and worked at Rolf Putziger's gym, where he worked and trained from 1966 to 1968 before returning to London in 1968 to win his next Mr. Universe title. He frequently told Roger C. Field, his English coach and friend in Munich at the time, "I'm going to become the greatest actor!" + +Schwarzenegger, who dreamed of moving to the US since age ten, and saw bodybuilding as his avenue of opportunity, realized his dream by moving to the US in October 1968 at age 21, speaking little English. There he trained at Gold's Gym in Venice, Los Angeles, California, under Joe Weider's supervision. From 1970 to 1974, one of Schwarzenegger's weight training partners was Ric Drasin, a professional wrestler who designed the original Gold's Gym logo in 1973. Schwarzenegger also became good friends with professional wrestler Superstar Billy Graham. In 1970, at age 23, Schwarzenegger captured his first Mr. Olympia title in New York, and would go on to win the title seven times. + +The immigration law firm Siskind & Susser has stated that Schwarzenegger may have been an illegal immigrant at some point in the late 1960s or early 1970s because of violations in the terms of his visa. LA Weekly said in 2002 that Schwarzenegger was "the most famous US immigrant", who "overcame a thick Austrian accent and transcended the unlikely background of bodybuilding to become the biggest movie star in the world in the 1990s". + +In 1977, Schwarzenegger's autobiography and weight-training guide, Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder, was a huge success. In 1977, he posed for the gay magazine After Dark. After taking an assortment of courses at Santa Monica College in California (including English classes), as well as further upper division classes at the University of California, Los Angeles as part of UCLA's extension program, he accumulated enough credits to be "within striking distance" of graduation. In 1979, he enrolled in the University of Wisconsin–Superior as a distance education student, completing most of his coursework by correspondence and flying out to Superior to meet professors and take final exams. In May 1980, he formally graduated and earned his bachelor's degree in business administration and marketing. He received his United States citizenship in 1983. + +He later received an Honorary Degree from Stockton University in 2023. + +Bodybuilding career + +Schwarzenegger is considered among the most important figures in the history of bodybuilding, and his legacy is commemorated in the Arnold Classic annual bodybuilding competition. He has remained a prominent face in bodybuilding long after his retirement, in part because of his ownership of gyms and fitness magazines. He has presided over numerous contests and awards shows. + +For many years, he wrote a monthly column for the bodybuilding magazines Muscle & Fitness and Flex. Shortly after being elected governor, he was appointed the executive editor of both magazines, in a largely symbolic capacity. The magazines agreed to donate $250,000 a year to the Governor's various physical fitness initiatives. When the deal, including the contract that gave Schwarzenegger at least $1 million a year, was made public in 2005, many criticized it as being a conflict of interest since the governor's office made decisions concerning regulation of dietary supplements in California. Consequently, Schwarzenegger relinquished the executive editor role in 2005. American Media Inc., which owns Muscle & Fitness and Flex, announced in March 2013 that Schwarzenegger had accepted their renewed offer to be executive editor of the magazines. + +One of the first competitions he won was the Junior Mr. Europe contest in 1965. He won Mr. Europe the following year, at age 19. He would go on to compete in many bodybuilding contests, and win most of them. His bodybuilding victories included five Mr. Universe wins (4 – NABBA [England], 1 – IFBB [USA]), and seven Mr. Olympia wins, a record which would stand until Lee Haney won his eighth consecutive Mr. Olympia title in 1991. + +Schwarzenegger continues to work out. When asked about his personal training during the 2011 Arnold Classic he said that he was still working out a half an hour with weights every day. + +Powerlifting/weightlifting + +During Schwarzenegger's early years in bodybuilding, he also competed in several Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting contests. Schwarzenegger's first professional competition was in 1963 and he won two weightlifting contests in 1964 and 1965, as well as two powerlifting contests in 1966 and 1968. + +In 1967, Schwarzenegger won the Munich stone-lifting contest, in which a stone weighing 508 German pounds (254 kg / 560 lb) is lifted between the legs while standing on two footrests. + +Personal records + + Clean and press – + Snatch – + Clean and jerk – + Squat – + Bench press – + Deadlift – + +Mr. Olympia + +Schwarzenegger's goal was to become the greatest bodybuilder in the world, which meant becoming Mr. Olympia. His first attempt was in 1969, when he lost to three-time champion Sergio Oliva. However, Schwarzenegger came back in 1970 and won the competition, making him the youngest ever Mr. Olympia at the age of 23, a record he still holds to this day. + +He continued his winning streak in the 1971–1974 competitions. He also toured different countries selling vitamins, as in Helsinki, Finland in 1972, when he lived at the YMCA Hotel Hospiz (nowadays Hotel Arthur) on Vuorikatu and presented vitamin pills at the Stockmann shopping center. In 1975, Schwarzenegger was once again in top form, and won the title for the sixth consecutive time, beating Franco Columbu. After the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest, Schwarzenegger announced his retirement from professional bodybuilding. + +Months before the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest, filmmakers George Butler and Robert Fiore persuaded Schwarzenegger to compete and film his training in the bodybuilding documentary called Pumping Iron. Schwarzenegger had only three months to prepare for the competition, after losing significant weight to appear in the film Stay Hungry with Jeff Bridges. Although significantly taller and heavier, Lou Ferrigno proved not to be a threat, and a lighter-than-usual Schwarzenegger convincingly won the 1975 Mr. Olympia. + +Schwarzenegger came out of retirement, however, to compete in the 1980 Mr. Olympia. Schwarzenegger was training for his role in Conan, and he got into such good shape because of the running, horseback riding and sword training, that he decided he wanted to win the Mr. Olympia contest one last time. He kept this plan a secret in the event that a training accident would prevent his entry and cause him to lose face. Schwarzenegger had been hired to provide color commentary for network television when he announced at the eleventh hour that, while he was there, "Why not compete?" Schwarzenegger ended up winning the event with only seven weeks of preparation. Having been declared Mr. Olympia for a seventh time, Schwarzenegger then officially retired from competition. This victory (subject of the documentary The Comeback) was highly controversial, though, as fellow competitors and many observers felt that his lack of muscle mass (especially in his thighs) and subpar conditioning should have precluded him from winning against a very competitive lineup that year. Mike Mentzer, in particular, felt cheated and withdrew from competitive bodybuilding after that contest. + +Steroid use +Schwarzenegger has acknowledged using performance-enhancing anabolic steroids while they were legal, writing in 1977 that "steroids were helpful to me in maintaining muscle size while on a strict diet in preparation for a contest. I did not use them for muscle growth, but rather for muscle maintenance when cutting up." He has called the drugs "tissue building". + +In 1999, Schwarzenegger sued Willi Heepe, a German doctor who publicly predicted his early death on the basis of a link between his steroid use and later heart problems. Since the doctor never examined him personally, Schwarzenegger collected a US$10,000 libel judgment against him in a German court. In 1999, Schwarzenegger also sued and settled with Globe, a U.S. tabloid which had made similar predictions about the bodybuilder's future health. + +List of competitions + +Statistics + + Height: + Contest weight: —the lightest in 1980 Mr. Olympia: around , the heaviest in 1974 Mr. Olympia: around + Off-season weight: + Chest: + Waist: + Arms: + Thighs: + Calves: + +Acting career + +Early roles + +Schwarzenegger wanted to move from bodybuilding into acting, finally achieving it when he was chosen to play the title role in Hercules in New York (1970). Credited under the stage name "Arnold Strong", his accent in the film was so thick that his lines were dubbed after production. His second film appearance was as a mob hitman in The Long Goodbye (1973), which was followed by a much more significant part in the film Stay Hungry (1976), for which he won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor. Schwarzenegger has discussed his early struggles in developing his acting career: "It was very difficult for me in the beginning – I was told by agents and casting people that my body was 'too weird', that I had a funny accent, and that my name was too long. You name it, and they told me I had to change it. Basically, everywhere I turned, I was told that I had no chance." + +Schwarzenegger drew attention and boosted his profile in the bodybuilding film Pumping Iron (1977), elements of which were dramatized. In 1991, he purchased the rights to the film, its outtakes, and associated still photography. In 1977, he made guest appearances in single episodes of the ABC sitcom The San Pedro Beach Bums and the ABC police procedural The Streets of San Francisco. Schwarzenegger auditioned for the title role of The Incredible Hulk, but did not win the role because of his height. Later, Lou Ferrigno got the part of Dr. David Banner's alter ego. Schwarzenegger appeared with Kirk Douglas and Ann-Margret in the 1979 comedy The Villain. In 1980, he starred in a biographical film of the 1950s actress Jayne Mansfield as Mansfield's husband, Mickey Hargitay. + +Action superstar + +Schwarzenegger's breakthrough film was the sword and sorcery epic Conan the Barbarian in 1982, which was a box-office hit. This was followed by a sequel, Conan the Destroyer, in 1984, although it was not as successful as its predecessor. In 1983, Schwarzenegger starred in the promotional video Carnival in Rio. In 1984, he made his first appearance as the eponymous character in James Cameron's science fiction action film The Terminator. It has been called his acting career's signature role. Following this, Schwarzenegger made another sword and sorcery film, Red Sonja, in 1985. During the 1980s, audiences had an appetite for action films, with both Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone becoming international stars. During the Schwarzenegger-Stallone rivalry they attacked each other in the press, and tried to surpass the other with more on-screen killings and larger weapons. Schwarzenegger's roles reflected his sense of humor, separating him from more serious action hero films. He made a number of successful action films in the 1980s, such as Commando (1985), Raw Deal (1986), The Running Man (1987), Predator (1987), and Red Heat (1988). + +Twins (1988), a comedy with Danny DeVito, also proved successful. Total Recall (1990) netted Schwarzenegger $10 million (equivalent to $ million today) and 15% of the film's gross. A science fiction script, the film was based on the Philip K. Dick short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale". Kindergarten Cop (1990) reunited him with director Ivan Reitman, who directed him in Twins. Schwarzenegger had a brief foray into directing, first with a 1990 episode of the TV series Tales from the Crypt, entitled "The Switch", and then with the 1992 telemovie Christmas in Connecticut. He has not directed since. + +Schwarzenegger's commercial peak was his return as the title character in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), which was the highest-grossing film of the year. Film critic Roger Ebert commented that "Schwarzenegger's genius as a movie star is to find roles that build on, rather than undermine, his physical and vocal characteristics." In 1993, the National Association of Theatre Owners named him the "International Star of the Decade". His next film project, the 1993 self-aware action comedy spoof Last Action Hero, was released opposite Jurassic Park, and did not do well at the box office. His next film, the comedy drama True Lies (1994), was a popular spy film and saw Schwarzenegger reunited with James Cameron. + +That same year, the comedy Junior was released, the last of Schwarzenegger's three collaborations with Ivan Reitman and again co-starring Danny DeVito. This film brought him his second Golden Globe nomination, this time for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. It was followed by the action thriller Eraser (1996), the Christmas comedy Jingle All The Way (1996), and the comic book-based Batman & Robin (1997), in which he played the villain Mr. Freeze. This was his final film before taking time to recuperate from a back injury. Following the critical failure of Batman & Robin, his film career and box office prominence went into decline. He returned with the supernatural thriller End of Days (1999), later followed by the action films The 6th Day (2000) and Collateral Damage (2002), both of which failed to do well at the box office. In 2003, he made his third appearance as the title character in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which went on to earn over $150 million domestically (equivalent to $ million today). + +In tribute to Schwarzenegger in 2002, Forum Stadtpark, a local cultural association, proposed plans to build a Terminator statue in a park in central Graz. Schwarzenegger reportedly said he was flattered, but thought the money would be better spent on social projects and the Special Olympics. + +Retirement + +His film appearances after becoming Governor of California included a three-second cameo appearance in The Rundown and the 2004 remake of Around the World in 80 Days. In 2005, he appeared as himself in the film The Kid & I. He voiced Baron von Steuben in the Liberty's Kids episode "Valley Forge". He had been rumored to be appearing in Terminator Salvation as the original T-800; he denied his involvement, but he ultimately did appear briefly via his image being inserted into the movie from stock footage of the first Terminator movie. Schwarzenegger appeared in Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables, where he made a cameo appearance. + +Return to acting + +In January 2011, just weeks after leaving office in California, Schwarzenegger announced that he was reading several new scripts for future films, one of them being the World War II action drama With Wings as Eagles, written by Randall Wallace, based on a true story. + +On March 6, 2011, at the Arnold Seminar of the Arnold Classic, Schwarzenegger revealed that he was being considered for several films, including sequels to The Terminator and remakes of Predator and The Running Man, and that he was "packaging" a comic book character. The character was later revealed to be the Governator, star of the comic book and animated series of the same name. Schwarzenegger inspired the character and co-developed it with Stan Lee, who would have produced the series. Schwarzenegger would have voiced the Governator. + +On May 20, 2011, Schwarzenegger's entertainment counsel announced that all film projects currently in development were being halted: "Schwarzenegger is focusing on personal matters and is not willing to commit to any production schedules or timelines." On July 11, 2011, it was announced that Schwarzenegger was considering a comeback film, despite legal problems related to his divorce. He starred in The Expendables 2 (2012) as Trench Mauser, and starred in The Last Stand (2013), his first leading role in 10 years, and Escape Plan (2013), his first co-starring role alongside Sylvester Stallone. He starred in Sabotage, released in March 2014, and returned as Trench Mauser in The Expendables 3, released in August 2014. He starred in the fifth Terminator film Terminator Genisys in 2015, and would reprise his role as Conan the Barbarian in The Legend of Conan, later renamed Conan the Conqueror. However, in April 2017, producer Chris Morgan stated that Universal had dropped the project, although there was a possibility of a TV show. The story of the film was supposed to be set 30 years after the first, with some inspiration from Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven. + +In August 2016, his filming of action-comedy Killing Gunther was temporarily interrupted by bank robbers near the filming location in Surrey, British Columbia. The film was released in September 2017. He was announced to star and produce in a film about the ruins of Sanxingdui called The Guest of Sanxingdui as an ambassador. + +On February 6, 2018, Amazon Studios announced they were working with Schwarzenegger to develop a new series entitled Outrider in which he will star and executive produce. The western-drama set in the Oklahoma Indian Territory in the late 19th century will follow a deputy (portrayed by Schwarzenegger) who is tasked with apprehending a legendary outlaw in the wilderness, but is forced to partner with a ruthless Federal Marshal to make sure justice is properly served. The series will also mark as Schwarzenegger's first major scripted TV role. + +Schwarzenegger returned to the Terminator franchise with Terminator: Dark Fate, which was released on November 1, 2019. It was produced by the series' co-creator James Cameron, who directed him previously in the first two films in the series and in True Lies. It was shot in Almería, Hungary and the US. + +The Celebrity Apprentice + +In September 2015, the media announced that Schwarzenegger was to replace Donald Trump as host of The New Celebrity Apprentice. This show, the 15th season of The Apprentice, aired during the 2016–2017 TV season. In the show, he used the phrases "you're terminated" and "get to the choppa", which are quotes from some of his famous roles (The Terminator and Predator, respectively), when firing the contestants. + +In March 2017, following repeated criticisms from Trump, Schwarzenegger announced that he would not return for another season on the show. He also reacted to Trump's remarks in January 2017 via Instagram: "Hey, Donald, I have a great idea. Why don't we switch jobs? You take over TV because you're such an expert in ratings, and I take over your job, and then people can finally sleep comfortably again." + +Political career + +Early politics + +Schwarzenegger has been a registered Republican for many years. When he was an actor, his political views were always well known as they contrasted with those of many other prominent Hollywood stars, who are generally considered to be a left-wing and Democratic-leaning community. At the 2004 Republican National Convention, Schwarzenegger gave a speech and explained that he was a Republican because he believed the Democrats of the 1960s sounded too much like Austrian socialists. + +In 1985, Schwarzenegger appeared in "Stop the Madness", an anti-drug music video sponsored by the Reagan administration. He first came to wide public notice as a Republican during the 1988 presidential election, accompanying then–Vice President George H. W. Bush at a campaign rally. + +Schwarzenegger famously introduced the first episode of the 1990 Milton Friedman hosted PBS series Free to Choose stating: Schwarzenegger goes on to tell of how he and his then wife Maria Shriver were in Palm Springs preparing to play a game of mixed doubles when Milton Friedman's famous show came on the television. Schwarzenegger recalls that while watching Friedman's Free to Choose, Schwarzenegger, "...recognized Friedman from the study of my own degree in economics, but I didn't know I was watching Free to Choose... it knocked me out. Dr. Friedman expressed, validated and explained everything I ever thought or experienced or observed about the way the economy works, and I guess I was really ready to hear it." Numerous critics state that Schwarzenegger strayed from much of Friedman's economic ways of thinking in later years, especially upon being elected Governor of California from 2003 through 2011. + +Schwarzenegger's first political appointment was as chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, on which he served from 1990 to 1993. He was nominated by the then-President Bush, who dubbed him "Conan the Republican". He later served as chairman for the California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports under Governor Pete Wilson. + +Between 1993 and 1994, Schwarzenegger was a Red Cross ambassador (a ceremonial role fulfilled by celebrities), recording several television and radio public service announcements to donate blood. + +In an interview with Talk magazine in late 1999, Schwarzenegger was asked if he thought of running for office. He replied, "I think about it many times. The possibility is there because I feel it inside." The Hollywood Reporter claimed shortly after that Schwarzenegger sought to end speculation that he might run for governor of California. Following his initial comments, Schwarzenegger said, "I'm in show business – I am in the middle of my career. Why would I go away from that and jump into something else?" + +Governor of California + +Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy in the 2003 California recall election for Governor of California on the August 6, 2003, episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Schwarzenegger had the most name recognition in a crowded field of candidates, but he had never held public office and his political views were unknown to most Californians. His candidacy immediately became national and international news, with media outlets dubbing him the "Governator" (referring to The Terminator movies, see above) and "The Running Man" (the name of another one of his films), and calling the recall election "Total Recall" (yet another movie starring Schwarzenegger). Schwarzenegger declined to participate in several debates with other recall replacement candidates, and appeared in only one debate on September 24, 2003. + +On October 7, 2003, the recall election resulted in Governor Gray Davis being removed from office with 55.4% of the Yes vote in favor of a recall. Schwarzenegger was elected Governor of California under the second question on the ballot with 48.6% of the vote to choose a successor to Davis. Schwarzenegger defeated Democrat Cruz Bustamante, fellow Republican Tom McClintock, and others. His nearest rival, Bustamante, received 31% of the vote. In total, Schwarzenegger won the election by about 1.3 million votes. Under the regulations of the California Constitution, no runoff election was required. Schwarzenegger was the second foreign-born governor of California after Irish-born Governor John G. Downey in 1862. + +Schwarzenegger is a moderate Republican. He says he is fiscally conservative and socially liberal. On the issue of abortion, he describes himself as pro-choice, but supports parental notification for minors and a ban on partial-birth abortion. He has supported gay rights, such as domestic partnerships, and he performed a same-sex marriage as governor. However, Schwarzenegger vetoed bills that would have legalized same-sex marriage in California in 2005 and 2007. He additionally vetoed two bills that would have implemented a single-payer health care system in California in 2006 and 2008, respectively. + +Schwarzenegger was entrenched in what he considered to be his mandate in cleaning up political gridlock. Building on a catchphrase from the sketch "Hans and Franz" from Saturday Night Live (which partly parodied his bodybuilding career), Schwarzenegger called the Democratic State politicians "girlie men". + +Schwarzenegger's early victories included repealing an unpopular increase in the vehicle registration fee as well as preventing driver's licenses from being given out to illegal immigrants, but later he began to feel the backlash when powerful state unions began to oppose his various initiatives. Key among his reckoning with political realities was a special election he called in November 2005, in which four ballot measures he sponsored were defeated. Schwarzenegger accepted personal responsibility for the defeats and vowed to continue to seek consensus for the people of California. He would later comment that "no one could win if the opposition raised 160 million dollars to defeat you". The U.S. Supreme Court later found the public employee unions' use of compulsory fundraising during the campaign had been illegal in Knox v. Service Employees International Union, Local 1000. + +Schwarzenegger, against the advice of fellow Republican strategists, appointed a Democrat, Susan Kennedy, as his Chief of Staff. He gradually moved towards a more politically moderate position, determined to build a winning legacy with only a short time to go until the next gubernatorial election. + +Schwarzenegger ran for re-election against Democrat Phil Angelides, the California State Treasurer, in the 2006 elections, held on November 7, 2006. Despite a poor year nationally for the Republican party, Schwarzenegger won re-election with 56.0% of the vote compared with 38.9% for Angelides, a margin of well over 1 million votes. Around this time, many commentators saw Schwarzenegger as moving away from the right and towards the center of the political spectrum. After hearing a speech by Schwarzenegger at the 2006 Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast, in which Schwarzenegger said, in part "How wrong I was when I said everyone has an equal opportunity to make it in America [...] the state of California does not provide (equal) education for all of our children", San Francisco mayor & future governor of California Gavin Newsom said that "[H]e's becoming a Democrat [... H]e's running back, not even to the center. I would say center-left". + +Some speculated that Schwarzenegger might run for the United States Senate in 2010, as his governorship would be term-limited by that time. Such rumors turned out to be false. + +Wendy Leigh, who wrote an unofficial biography on Schwarzenegger, claims he plotted his political rise from an early age using the movie business and bodybuilding as the means to escape a depressing home. Leigh portrays Schwarzenegger as obsessed with power and quotes him as saying, "I wanted to be part of the small percentage of people who were leaders, not the large mass of followers. I think it is because I saw leaders use 100% of their potential – I was always fascinated by people in control of other people." Schwarzenegger has said that it was never his intention to enter politics, but he says, "I married into a political family. You get together with them and you hear about policy, about reaching out to help people. I was exposed to the idea of being a public servant and Eunice and Sargent Shriver became my heroes." Eunice Kennedy Shriver was the sister of John F. Kennedy, and mother-in-law to Schwarzenegger; Sargent Shriver is husband to Eunice and father-in-law to Schwarzenegger. + +Schwarzenegger cannot run for U.S. president as he is not a natural-born citizen of the United States. Schwarzenegger is a dual Austrian and United States citizen. He has held Austrian citizenship since birth and U.S. citizenship since becoming naturalized in 1983. Being Austrian and thus European, he was able to win the 2007 European Voice campaigner of the year award for taking action against climate change with the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and plans to introduce an emissions trading scheme with other US states and possibly with the EU. + +Because of his personal wealth from his acting career, Schwarzenegger did not accept his governor's salary of $175,000 per year. + +Schwarzenegger's endorsement in the Republican primary of the 2008 U.S. presidential election was highly sought; despite being good friends with candidates Rudy Giuliani and Senator John McCain, Schwarzenegger remained neutral throughout 2007 and early 2008. Giuliani dropped out of the presidential race on January 30, 2008, largely because of a poor showing in Florida, and endorsed McCain. Later that night, Schwarzenegger was in the audience at a Republican debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. The following day, he endorsed McCain, joking, "It's Rudy's fault!" (in reference to his friendships with both candidates and that he could not make up his mind). Schwarzenegger's endorsement was thought to be a boost for Senator McCain's campaign; both spoke about their concerns for the environment and economy. + +In its April 2010 report, Progressive ethics watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named Schwarzenegger one of 11 "worst governors" in the United States because of various ethics issues throughout Schwarzenegger's term as governor. + +Governor Schwarzenegger played a significant role in opposing Proposition 66, a proposed amendment of the Californian Three Strikes Law, in November 2004. This amendment would have required the third felony to be either violent or serious to mandate a 25-years-to-life sentence. In the last week before the ballot, Schwarzenegger launched an intense campaign against Proposition 66. He stated that "it would release 26,000 dangerous criminals and rapists". + +Although he began his tenure as governor with record high approval ratings (as high as 65% in May 2004), he left office with a near-record low 23% only one percent higher than that of Gray Davis, when he was recalled in October 2003. + +Death of Luis Santos + +In May 2010, Esteban Núñez pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the death of Luis Santos. Núñez is the son of Fabian Núñez, then California Assembly Speaker of the House and a close friend and staunch political ally of then governor Schwarzenegger. + +As a personal favor to "a friend", just hours before he left office, and as one of his last official acts, Schwarzenegger commuted Núñez's sentence by more than half, to seven years. He believed that Núñez's sentence was "excessive" in comparison with the same prison term imposed on Ryan Jett, the man who fatally stabbed Santos. Against protocol, Schwarzenegger did not inform Santos' family or the San Diego County prosecutors about the commutation. They learned about it in a call from a reporter. + +The Santos family, along with the San Diego district attorney, sued to stop the commutation, claiming that it violated Marsy's Law. In September 2012, Sacramento County superior court judge Lloyd Connelly stated, "Based on the evidentiary records before this court involving this case, there was an abuse of discretion...This was a distasteful commutation. It was repugnant to the bulk of the citizenry of this state." However, Connelly ruled that Schwarzenegger remained within his executive powers as governor. Subsequently, as a direct result of the way the commutation was handled, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bipartisan bill that allows offenders' victims and their families to be notified at least 10 days before any commutations. Núñez was released from prison after serving less than six years. + +Drug use and allegations of sexual misconduct + +During his initial campaign for governor in 2003, allegations of sexual and personal misconduct were raised against Schwarzenegger. Within the last five days before the election, news reports appeared in the Los Angeles Times recounting decades-old allegations of sexual misconduct from six individual women. Schwarzenegger responded to the allegations in 2004 admitting that he has "behaved badly sometimes" and apologized, but also stated that "a lot of [what] you see in the stories is not true". One of the women who came forward was British television personality Anna Richardson, who settled a libel lawsuit in August 2006 against Schwarzenegger; his top aide, Sean Walsh; and his publicist, Sheryl Main. A joint statement read: "The parties are content to put this matter behind them and are pleased that this legal dispute has now been settled." In 2023, Schwarzenegger revisited the issue while promoting his new three-part biographical documentary on Netflix called Arnold. Schwarzenegger stated that he was "totally wrong". + +During this time a 1977 interview in adult magazine Oui gained attention, in which Schwarzenegger discussed using substances such as marijuana. Schwarzenegger is shown smoking a marijuana joint after winning Mr. Olympia in 1975 in the documentary film Pumping Iron (1977). In an interview with GQ magazine in October 2007, Schwarzenegger said, "[Marijuana] is not a drug. It's a leaf. My drug was pumping iron, trust me." His spokesperson later said the comment was meant to be a joke. + +Citizenship + +Schwarzenegger became a naturalized U.S. citizen on September 17, 1983. Shortly before he gained his citizenship, he asked the Austrian authorities for the right to keep his Austrian citizenship, as Austria does not usually allow dual citizenship. His request was granted, and he retained his Austrian citizenship. In 2005, Peter Pilz, a member of the Austrian Parliament from the Austrian Green Party, unsuccessfully advocated for Parliament to revoke Schwarzenegger's Austrian citizenship due to his decision not to prevent the executions of Donald Beardslee and Stanley Williams. Pilz argued that Schwarzenegger caused damage to Austria's reputation in the international community because Austria abolished the death penalty in 1968. Pilz based his argument on Article 33 of the Austrian Citizenship Act, which states: "A citizen, who is in the public service of a foreign country, shall be deprived of his citizenship if he heavily damages the reputation or the interests of the Austrian Republic." Pilz claimed that Schwarzenegger's actions in support of the death penalty (prohibited in Austria under Protocol 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights) had damaged Austria's reputation. Schwarzenegger explained his actions by pointing out that his only duty as Governor of California with respect to the death penalty was to correct an error by the justice system by pardon or clemency if such an error had occurred. + +Environmental record + +On September 27, 2006, Schwarzenegger signed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, creating the nation's first cap on greenhouse gas emissions. The law set new regulations on the amount of emissions utilities, refineries, and manufacturing plants are allowed to release into the atmosphere. Schwarzenegger also signed a second global warming bill that prohibits large utilities and corporations in California from making long-term contracts with suppliers who do not meet the state's greenhouse gas emission standards. The two bills are part of a plan to reduce California's emissions by 25 percent to 1990s levels by 2020. In 2005, Schwarzenegger issued an executive order calling to reduce greenhouse gases to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. + +Schwarzenegger signed another executive order on October 17, 2006, allowing California to work with the Northeast's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. They plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by issuing a limited amount of carbon credits to each power plant in participating states. Any power plants that exceed emissions for the number of carbon credits will have to purchase more credits to cover the difference. The plan took effect in 2009. In addition to using his political power to fight global warming, the governor has taken steps at his home to reduce his personal carbon footprint. Schwarzenegger has adapted one of his Hummers to run on hydrogen and another to run on biofuels. He has also installed solar panels to heat his home. + +In respect for his contribution to the direction of the US motor industry, Schwarzenegger was invited to open the 2009 SAE World Congress in Detroit on April 20, 2009. + +In 2011, Schwarzenegger founded the R20 Regions of Climate Action to develop a sustainable, low-carbon economy. In 2017, he joined French President Emmanuel Macron in calling for the adoption of a Global Pact for the Environment. +In 2017, Schwarzenegger launched the Austrian World Summit, an international climate conference that is held annually in Vienna, Austria. The Austrian World Summit is organized by the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative and aims is to bring together representatives from politics, civil society and business to create a broad alliance for climate protection and to identify concrete solutions to the climate crisis. + +Electoral history + +Presidential ambitions + +Presidential aspirations by the Austrian-born Schwarzenegger would be blocked by a constitutional hurdle; Article II, Section I, Clause V prevents individuals who are not natural-born citizens of the United States from assuming the office. The Equal Opportunity to Govern Amendment in 2003 was widely accredited as the "Amend for Arnold" bill, which would have added an amendment to the U.S. Constitution allowing his run. In 2004, the "Amend for Arnold" campaign was launched, featuring a website and TV advertising promotion. + +In June 2007, Schwarzenegger was featured on the cover of Time magazine with Michael Bloomberg, and subsequently, the two joked about a presidential ticket together. + +Business career +Schwarzenegger has also enjoyed a highly successful business career. Following his move to the United States, Schwarzenegger became a "prolific goal setter" and would write his objectives at the start of the year on index cards, like starting a mail order business or buying a new car – and succeed in doing so. As a result of his early business and investment success, Schwarzenegger became a millionaire by the age of 25, well before making a name for himself in Hollywood. His path to financial independence came as a result of his success as a proactive businessman and investor involved with a series of lucrative business ventures and real estate investments. + +Early ventures +In 1968, Schwarzenegger and fellow bodybuilder Franco Columbu started a bricklaying business. The business flourished thanks to the pair's marketing savvy and an increased demand following the 1971 San Fernando earthquake. When signs of profitability emerged as business began to pick up, Schwarzenegger and Columbu rolled over the profits from their bricklaying venture to start a mail-order business that sold bodybuilding and fitness-related equipment and instructional tapes. + +Investments +Schwarzenegger transferred profits from the mail-order business and his bodybuilding-competition winnings by rolling the proceeds into his first real estate investment: an apartment building he purchased for $10,000. Schwarzenegger would later go on to invest in a number of real estate holding companies and investment ventures across the United States and around the world. + +Schwarzenegger and fellow Hollywood veteran actor and industry adversary Sylvester Stallone brought their long-storied industry rivalry to an end by both investing in the Planet Hollywood chain of international theme restaurants (modeled after the Hard Rock Cafe) along with Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. However, Schwarzenegger severed his financial ties with the chain in early 2000. Schwarzenegger remarked that the restaurant did not achieve the success that he had hoped for, claiming he wanted to focus his attention on "new US global business ventures" and his then-burgeoning acting career. + +Schwarzenegger also made a private commercial real estate investment in the Easton Town Center, a shopping mall located in Columbus, Ohio. He has talked about some of those who have helped him over the years in business: "I couldn't have learned about business without a parade of teachers guiding me... from Milton Friedman to Donald Trump... and now, Les Wexner and Warren Buffett. I even learned a thing or two from Planet Hollywood, such as when to get out! And I did!" He has significant equity ownership in Dimensional Fund Advisors, an Austin-based investment firm. Schwarzenegger is also the owner of Arnold's Sports Festival, a sports and fitness festival which he started in 1989 and is held annually in Columbus, Ohio. It is a festival that hosts thousands of international health and fitness professionals which has also expanded into a three-day expo. He also owns a film production company called Oak Productions, Inc. and Fitness Publications, a joint book publishing venture partnered with Simon & Schuster. + +In 2018, Schwarzenegger partnered with basketball player LeBron James to establish Ladder, a company that developed nutritional supplements to help athletes with severe cramps. The pair sold Ladder to Openfit for an undisclosed amount in 2020 after reporting more than $4 million in sales for that year. + +Restaurant +In 1992, Schwarzenegger and his wife opened a restaurant in Santa Monica called Schatzi On Main. Schatzi literally means "little treasure," and colloquially "honey" or "darling" in German. In 1998, he sold his restaurant. + +Wealth + +Schwarzenegger's net worth had been conservatively estimated at $100 million to $200 million. After separating from his wife, Maria Shriver, in 2011, it was estimated that his net worth had been approximately $400 million, and even as high as $800 million, based on tax returns he filed in 2006. Over the years, he shrewdly invested his bodybuilding and film earnings in an extensive array of stocks, bonds, privately controlled companies, and investment-grade real estate across the United States and worldwide, making his net worth difficult to accurately calculate, particularly in light of declining real estate values owing to economic recessions in the United States and Europe that occurred during the late 2000s. In June 1997, he spent $38 million of his own money on a private Gulfstream jet. Regarding his private fortune, Schwarzenegger once quipped: "Money doesn't make you happy. I now have $50 million, but I was just as happy when I had $48 million." + +Commercial advertisements +Schwarzenegger has also appeared in a series of commercials for the Machine Zone game Mobile Strike as a military commander and spokesman. + +Personal life + +Early relationships + +In 1969, Schwarzenegger met Barbara Outland (later Barbara Outland Baker), an English teacher with whom he lived until 1974. Schwarzenegger said of Baker in his 1977 memoir, "Basically it came down to this: she was a well-balanced woman who wanted an ordinary, solid life, and I was not a well-balanced man, and hated the very idea of ordinary life." Baker has described Schwarzenegger as a "joyful personality, totally charismatic, adventurous, and athletic" but claims that towards the end of the relationship he became "insufferable—classically conceited—the world revolved around him". Baker published her memoir in 2006, entitled Arnold and Me: In the Shadow of the Austrian Oak. Although Baker painted an unflattering portrait of her former lover at times, Schwarzenegger actually contributed to the tell-all book with a foreword, and also met with Baker for three hours. + +Baker claims that she only learned of his being unfaithful after they split, and talks of a turbulent and passionate love life. Schwarzenegger has made it clear that their respective recollection of events can differ. The couple first met six to eight months after his arrival in the U.S. Their first date was watching the first Apollo Moon landing on television. They shared an apartment in Santa Monica, California, for three and a half years, and having little money, they would visit the beach all day or have barbecues in the back yard. Although Baker claims that when she first met Schwarzenegger, he had "little understanding of polite society" and she found him a turn-off, she says, "He's as much a self-made man as it's possible to be—he never got encouragement from his parents, his family, his brother. He just had this huge determination to prove himself, and that was very attractive ... I'll go to my grave knowing Arnold loved me." + +Schwarzenegger met his next lover, Beverly Hills hairdresser's assistant Sue Moray, on Venice Beach in July 1977. According to Moray, the couple led an open relationship: "We were faithful when we were both in LA... but when he was out of town, we were free to do whatever we wanted." Schwarzenegger met television journalist Maria Shriver, niece of President John F. Kennedy, at the Robert F. Kennedy Tennis Tournament in August 1977. He went on to have a relationship with both Moray and Shriver until August 1978 when Moray (who knew of his relationship with Shriver) issued an ultimatum. + +Marriage and family + +On April 26, 1986, Schwarzenegger married Shriver in Hyannis, Massachusetts. They have four children, including Katherine Schwarzenegger and Patrick Schwarzenegger. All of their children were born in Los Angeles. The family lived in an home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, with vacation homes in Sun Valley, Idaho, and Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. They attended St. Monica's Catholic Church. + +Divorce + +On May 9, 2011, Shriver and Schwarzenegger ended their relationship after 25 years of marriage with Shriver moving out of their Brentwood mansion. On May 16, 2011, the Los Angeles Times revealed that Schwarzenegger had fathered a son more than 14 years earlier with an employee in their household, Mildred Patricia "Patty" Baena. "After leaving the governor's office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago," Schwarzenegger said to the Times. In the statement, Schwarzenegger did not mention that he had confessed to his wife only after she had confronted him with the information, which she had done after confirming with the housekeeper what she had suspected about the child. + +Baena is of Guatemalan origin. She was employed by the family for 20 years and retired in January 2011. The pregnant Baena was working in the home while Shriver was pregnant with the youngest of the couple's four children. Baena's son with Schwarzenegger was born days after Shriver gave birth. Schwarzenegger said that it took seven or eight years before he found out that he had fathered a child with his housekeeper. It was not until the boy "started looking like [him] ... that [he] put things together". Schwarzenegger has taken financial responsibility for the child "from the start and continued to provide support". KNX 1070 radio reported that, in 2010, he bought a new four-bedroom house with a pool for Baena and their son in Bakersfield, California. Baena separated from her husband, Rogelio, a few months after Joseph's birth. She filed for divorce in 2008. Rogelio said that the child's birth certificate was falsified and that he planned to sue Schwarzenegger for engaging in conspiracy to falsify a public document, a serious crime in California. + +Pursuant to the divorce judgment, Schwarzenegger kept the Brentwood home, while Shriver purchased a new home nearby so that the children could travel between their parents' homes. They shared custody of the two youngest children. Schwarzenegger came under fire after the initial petition did not include spousal support and a reimbursement of attorney's fees. However, he claims this was not intentional and that he signed the initial documents without having properly read them. He filed amended divorce papers remedying this. Schwarzenegger and Shriver finalized their divorce in 2021, ten years after separating. + +In June 2022, a jury ruled that Maria Shriver was entitled to half of her ex-husband's post-divorce savings that he earned from 1986 to 2011, including a pension. + +After the scandal, Danish-Italian actress Brigitte Nielsen came forward and stated that she too had an affair with Schwarzenegger during the production of Red Sonja, while he had just started his relationship with Shriver. When asked in January 2014, "Of all the things you are famous for ... which are you least proud of?" Schwarzenegger replied, "I'm least proud of the mistakes I made that caused my family pain and split us up." + +Accidents, injuries, and other health problems + +Health problems + +Schwarzenegger was born with a bicuspid aortic valve, an aortic valve with only two leaflets, where a normal aortic valve has three. He opted in 1997 for a replacement heart valve made from his own pulmonic valve, which itself was replaced with a cadaveric pulmonic valve, in a Ross procedure; medical experts predicted he would require pulmonic heart valve replacement surgery within the next two to eight years because his valve would progressively degrade. Schwarzenegger apparently opted against a mechanical valve, the only permanent solution available at the time of his surgery, because it would have sharply limited his physical activity and capacity to exercise. + +On March 29, 2018, Schwarzenegger underwent emergency open-heart surgery for replacement of his replacement pulmonic valve. He said about his recovery: "I underwent open-heart surgery this spring, I had to use a walker. I had to do breathing exercises five times a day to retrain my lungs. I was frustrated and angry, and in my worst moments, I couldn't see the way back to my old self." + +In 2020, 23 years after his first surgery, Schwarzenegger underwent a surgery for a new aortic valve. + +Accidents, injuries + +On December 9, 2001, he broke six ribs and was hospitalized for four days after a motorcycle crash in Los Angeles. + +Schwarzenegger saved a drowning man in 2004 while on vacation in Hawaii by swimming out and bringing him back to shore. + +On January 8, 2006, while Schwarzenegger was riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle in Los Angeles with his son Patrick in the sidecar, another driver backed into the street he was riding on, causing him and his son to collide with the car at a low speed. While his son and the other driver were unharmed, Schwarzenegger sustained an injury to his lip requiring 15 stitches. "No citations were issued," said Officer Jason Lee, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman. Schwarzenegger did not obtain his motorcycle license until July 3, 2006. + +Schwarzenegger tripped over his ski pole and broke his right femur while skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho, with his family on December 23, 2006. On December 26, he underwent a 90-minute operation in which cables and screws were used to wire the broken bone back together. He was released from St. John's Health Center on December 30, 2006. + +Schwarzenegger's private jet made an emergency landing at Van Nuys Airport on June 19, 2009, after the pilot reported smoke coming from the cockpit, according to a statement released by his press secretary. No one was harmed in the incident. + +On May 18, 2019, while on a visit to South Africa, Schwarzenegger was attacked and dropkicked from behind by an unknown malefactor while giving autographs to his fans at one of the local schools. Despite the surprise and unprovoked nature of the attack, he reportedly suffered no injuries and continued to interact with fans. The attacker was apprehended and Schwarzenegger declined to press charges against him. + +Schwarzenegger was involved in a multi-vehicle collision on the afternoon of Friday, January 21, 2022. Schwarzenegger was driving a black GMC Yukon SUV near the intersections of Sunset Blvd and Allenford Ave in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, when his vehicle collided with a red Toyota Prius. The driver of the Prius was transported to the hospital for injuries sustained to her head. Schwarzenegger was uninjured. + +Height + +Schwarzenegger's official height of has been brought into question by several articles. During his bodybuilding days in the late 1960s, it was claimed that he measured . However, in 1988, both the Daily Mail and Time Out magazine mentioned that Schwarzenegger appeared noticeably shorter. Prior to running for governor, Schwarzenegger's height was once again questioned in an article by the Chicago Reader. As governor, Schwarzenegger engaged in a light-hearted exchange with Assemblyman Herb Wesson over their heights. At one point, Wesson made an unsuccessful attempt to, in his own words, "settle this once and for all and find out how tall he is" by using a tailor's tape measure on the Governor. Schwarzenegger retaliated by placing a pillow stitched with the words "Need a lift?" on the Wesson's chair before a negotiating session in his office. Democrat Bob Mulholland also claimed Schwarzenegger was and that he wore risers in his boots. In 1999, Men's Health magazine stated his height was . + +Autobiography + +Schwarzenegger's autobiography, Total Recall, was released in October 2012. He devotes one chapter called "The Secret" to his extramarital affair. The majority of his book is about his successes in the three major chapters in his life: bodybuilder, actor, and Governor of California. + +Vehicles + +Growing up during the Allied occupation of Austria, Schwarzenegger commonly saw heavy military vehicles such as tanks as a child. As a result, he paid $20,000 to bring his Austrian Army M47 Patton tank (331) to the United States, which he previously operated during his mandatory service in 1965. However, he later obtained his vehicle in 1991/2, during his tenure as the Chairmen of the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, and now uses it to support his charity. His first car ever was an Opel Kadett in 1969 after serving in the Austrian army, then he rode a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy in 1991. + +Moreover, he came to develop an interest in large vehicles and became the first civilian in the U.S. to purchase a Humvee. He was so enamored by the vehicle that he lobbied the Humvee's manufacturer, AM General, to produce a street-legal, civilian version, which they did in 1992; the first two Hummer H1s they sold were also purchased by Schwarzenegger. In 2010, he had one regular and three running on non-fossil power sources; one for hydrogen, one for vegetable oil, and one for biodiesel. Schwarzenegger was in the news in 2014 for buying a rare Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse. He was spotted and filmed in 2015 in his car, painted silver with bright aluminum forged wheels. His Bugatti has its interior adorned in dark brown leather. In 2017, Schwarzenegger acquired a Mercedes G-Class modified for all-electric drive. + +The Hummers that Schwarzenegger bought in 1992 are so large—each weighs and is wide—that they are classified as large trucks, and U.S. fuel economy regulations do not apply to them. During the gubernatorial recall campaign, he announced that he would convert one of his Hummers to burn hydrogen. The conversion was reported to have cost about $21,000. After the election, he signed an executive order to jump-start the building of hydrogen refueling plants called the California Hydrogen Highway Network, and gained a U.S. Department of Energy grant to help pay for its projected US$91,000,000 cost. California took delivery of the first H2H (Hydrogen Hummer) in October 2004. + +Public image and legacy + +Schwarzenegger has been involved with the Special Olympics for many years after they were founded by his ex-mother-in-law Eunice Kennedy Shriver. In 2007, Schwarzenegger was the official spokesperson for the Special Olympics held in Shanghai, China. Schwarzenegger believes that quality school opportunities should be made available to children who might not normally be able to access them. In 1995, he founded the Inner City Games Foundation (ICG) which provides cultural, educational and community enrichment programming to youth. ICG is active in 15 cities around the country and serves over 250,000 children in over 400 schools countrywide. He has also been involved with After-School All-Stars and founded the Los Angeles branch in 2002. ASAS is an after school program provider, educating youth about health, fitness and nutrition. + +On February 12, 2010, Schwarzenegger took part in the Vancouver Olympic Torch relay. He handed off the flame to the next runner, Sebastian Coe. + +Schwarzenegger had a collection of Marxist busts, which he requested from Russian friends during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, as they were being destroyed. In 2011, he revealed that his wife had requested their removal, but he kept the one of Vladimir Lenin present, since "he was the first". In 2015, he said he kept the Lenin bust to "show losers." + +Schwarzenegger is a supporter of Israel, and has participated in a Los Angeles pro-Israel rally among other similar events. In 2004, Schwarzenegger visited Israel to break ground on Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem, and to lay a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, he also met with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Moshe Katsav. In 2011, at the Independence Day celebration hosted by the Israeli Consulate General in Los Angeles, Schwarzenegger said: "I love Israel. When I became governor, Israel was the first country that I visited. When I had the chance to sign a bill calling on California pension funds to divest their money from companies that do business with Iran, I immediately signed that bill", then he added, "I knew that we could not send money to these crazy dictators who hate us and threaten Israel any time they have a bad day." + +Schwarzenegger supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Schwarzenegger also expressed support for the 2011 military intervention in Libya. In 2014, Schwarzenegger released a video message in support of the Euromaidan protests against Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. In 2022, Schwarzenegger released another video message condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Schwarzenegger's Twitter account is one of the 22 accounts that the president of Russia's Twitter account follows. + +Schwarzenegger, who played football as a boy, grew up watching Bayern Munich and Sturm Graz. He also expressed his admiration of Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool in October 2019. + +Schwarzenegger inspired many actors to become action heroes, including Dwayne Johnson, Matt McColm, Christian Boeving, Vidyut Jamwal, and Daniel Greene. Boeving's character in the 2003 action film When Eagles Strike was based on Schwarzenegger's image from the late 1980s: mostly on Major "Dutch" Schaefer] from Predator (1987) and Colonel John Matrix from Commando (1985). + +Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy + +In 2012, Schwarzenegger helped to found the Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy, which is a part of the USC Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. The institute's mission is to "[advance] post-partisanship, where leaders put people over political parties and work together to find the best ideas and solutions to benefit the people they serve" and to "seek to influence public policy and public debate in finding solutions to the serious challenges we face". Schwarzenegger serves as chairman of the institute. + +Global warming + +At a 2015 security conference, Schwarzenegger called climate change the issue of our time. He also urged politicians to stop treating climate change as a political issue. + +2016 presidential election + +For the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, Schwarzenegger endorsed fellow Republican John Kasich. However, he announced in October that he would not vote for the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in that year's United States presidential election, with this being the first time he did not vote for the Republican candidate since becoming a citizen in 1983. + +Post-2016 + +In recent years, Schwarzenegger has been advocating for eating less meat, and he is an executive producer alongside James Cameron et al. behind the documentary The Game Changers, that documents the explosive rise of plant-based eating in professional sports, in which he is also featured. + +In 2017, Schwarzenegger condemned white supremacists who were seen carrying Nazi and Confederate flags by calling their heroes "losers." + +In 2019, while at the "Arnold Classic Africa" sports competition as an official, Schwarzenegger was attacked by an assailant in a flying kick. The assailant was arrested. + +Following the January 6 United States Capitol attack by supporters of President Donald Trump, Schwarzenegger posted a video address on social media in which he likened the insurrection to Nazi Germany's Kristallnacht, which he described as "a night of rampage against the Jews carried out [by] the Nazi equivalent of the Proud Boys." He spoke of his father's alcoholism, domestic violence, and abuse, and how it was typical of other former Nazis and collaborators in the post-war era; and described Trump as "a failed leader. He will go down in history as the worst president ever." + +In late March 2021, Schwarzenegger was interviewed by Politico about the upcoming recall election in California in which he said that "it's pretty much the same atmosphere today as it was then," and when he was asked about Newsom's claim of this being a "Republican recall" he responded that "this recall effort is sparked by ordinary folks," and that this was not a power grab by Republicans. + +Schwarzenegger has spoken out about COVID-19, urging Americans to wear masks and practice social distancing. In August 2021, he said: "There is a virus here. It kills people and the only way we prevent it is: get vaccinated, wear masks, do social distancing, washing your hands all the time, and not just to think about, 'Well my freedom is being kind of disturbed here.' No, screw your freedom." + +In February 2022, Schwarzenegger said his diet has been mostly vegan for the past five years, saying it was about 80% plant-based food. He has been outspoken about the benefits of a vegan diet for health and said it had helped him feel "healthier and younger overall". He also credited it to helping him lower his cholesterol. + +Filmography + +Awards and honors + +Bodybuilding + Seven-time Mr. Olympia winner + Four-time Mr. Universe winner + 1969 World Amateur Bodybuilding Champion + +Entertainment + 1977 Golden Globe Award winner + 2012 Inkpot Award + 2014 Primetime Emmy Award winner for producing the documentary series Years of Living Dangerously + +Halls of Fame +International Sports Hall of Fame (class of 2012) + WWE Hall of Fame (class of 2015) +Medal for Humanitary Merit of the Austrian Albert Schweitzer Society (2011) + Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame + +State/local +Public art mural portrait "Arnold Schwarzenegger" (2012) by Jonas Never, Venice, Los Angeles + Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy (part of the USC Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California) named in his honor. + Arnold's Run ski trail at Sun Valley Resort named in his honor. The trail is categorized as a black diamond, or most difficult, for its terrain. + +International + Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria in Gold (1993) + Cavalier (2011) and Commander (2017) of the French Legion of Honor + Honorary Ring of the Federal State of Styria (Austria, June 2017) + "A Day for Arnold" on July 30, 2007, in Thal, Austria. For his 60th birthday, the mayor sent Schwarzenegger the enameled address sign (Thal 145) of the house where Schwarzenegger was born, declaring "This belongs to him. No one here will ever be assigned that number again". + "Honor et Gloria" White Cross (No.179) – 2023; Ukrainian non-state decoration bestowed by the VGO "Kraina" (NGO) at the request of Mr Anatoliy Ostapenko (member of the Verkhovna Rada) + +Books + +See also + + Kennedy family tree + List of U.S. state governors born outside the United States + +References + +Footnotes + +Citations + +Further reading + +External links + + + Schwarzenegger Museum + + + + + + + +|- + +|- + +|- + +|- + +|- + + +1947 births +Living people +20th-century American businesspeople +20th-century American male actors +20th-century American male writers +20th-century American non-fiction writers +20th-century Austrian businesspeople +20th-century Austrian male actors +20th-century Austrian male writers +20th-century Austrian writers +20th-century Roman Catholics +21st-century American businesspeople +21st-century American male actors +21st-century American male writers +21st-century American non-fiction writers +21st-century American politicians +21st-century Austrian businesspeople +21st-century Austrian male actors +21st-century Austrian male writers +21st-century Austrian politicians +21st-century Austrian writers +21st-century Roman Catholics +Activists from California +Actors from Graz +American actor-politicians +American athlete-politicians +American autobiographers +American bodybuilders +American book publishers (people) +American businesspeople in retailing +American education writers +American exercise and fitness writers +American film producers +American health activists +American instructional writers +American investors +American male film actors +American male non-fiction writers +American male television actors +American male video game actors +American male voice actors +American male weightlifters +American people of Austrian descent +American philanthropists +American powerlifters +American publishers (people) +American real estate businesspeople +American restaurateurs +American Roman Catholics +American stock traders +Austrian autobiographers +Austrian bodybuilders +Austrian emigrants to the United States +Austrian expatriate male actors in the United States +Austrian expatriate sportspeople in the United States +Austrian film directors +Austrian film producers +Austrian health activists +Austrian investors +Austrian male film actors +Austrian male television actors +Austrian male voice actors +Austrian male weightlifters +Austrian non-fiction writers +Austrian philanthropists +Austrian powerlifters +Austrian publishers (people) +Austrian real estate businesspeople +Austrian restaurateurs +Austrian Roman Catholics +Austrian soldiers +Businesspeople from Graz +Businesspeople from Los Angeles +Catholics from California +Commanders of the Legion of Honour +Film directors from Los Angeles +Film producers from California +Inkpot Award winners +Kennedy family +Laureus World Sports Awards winners +Male actors from California +Male actors from Los Angeles +Male bodybuilders +New Star of the Year (Actor) Golden Globe winners +People from Brentwood, Los Angeles +People with acquired American citizenship +People with congenital heart defects +People with multiple nationality +Politicians from Graz +Politicians from Los Angeles +Primetime Emmy Award winners +Republican Party governors of California +Santa Monica College alumni +Schwarzenegger family +Shriver family +Skydance Media people +Sportspeople from Graz +Sportspeople from Los Angeles +University of California regents +University of Wisconsin–Superior alumni +Writers from Graz +Writers from Los Angeles +WWE Hall of Fame inductees +ASA as an abbreviation or initialism may refer to: + +Biology and medicine + Accessible surface area of a biomolecule, accessible to a solvent + Acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin + Advanced surface ablation, refractive eye surgery + Anterior spinal artery, the blood vessel which supplies the anterior portion of the spinal cord + Antisperm antibodies, antibodies against sperm antigens + Argininosuccinic aciduria, a disorder of the urea cycle + ASA physical status classification system, rating of patients undergoing anesthesia + +Education and research + African Studies Association of the United Kingdom + African Studies Association +Alandica Shipping Academy, Åland Islands, Finland + Albany Students' Association, at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand + Alexander-Smith Academy, in Houston, Texas + Alpha Sigma Alpha, U.S. national sorority + American Society for Aesthetics, philosophical organization + American Student Assistance, national non-profit organization + American Studies Association + Arizona School for the Arts + Armenian Sisters Academy + Association of Social Anthropologists + Astronomical Society of Australia + Austrian Studies Association + +Organizations + Acoustical Society of America, international scientific society + Advertising Standards Authority (disambiguation), advertising regulators in several countries + American Scientific Affiliation, an organization of Christians in science + American Society of Agronomy + American Society of Anesthesiologists + American Society of Appraisers +American Sociological Association + American Staffing Association + American Standards Association, a former name of the American National Standards Institute + American Statistical Association + American Synesthesia Association + Americans for Safe Access, marijuana law reform group + Association for Social Advancement, microfinance institution, Bangladesh + Association for the Study of Abortion + Association of Scouts of Azerbaijan + Association of Southeast Asia + Australian Submarine Agency + Australian Society of Authors + Australian Space Agency + Austrian Service Abroad + Autism Society of America + United States Army Security Agency + +Sports + Agremiação Sportiva Arapiraquense, Brazilian soccer club + Alliance Sport Alsace, French basketball club + Amateur Softball Association, former name of the governing body now known as USA Softball + Amateur Swimming Association, former name of Swim England + American Sailing Association + American Samoa, IOC country code + American Speed Association, motorsports sanctioning body + American Sportscasters Association + Arizona Soccer Association + Athletics South Africa, the national governing body for the sport of athletics in South Africa + Atlético Sport Aviação, Angolan multisports club + United States Adult Soccer Association + +Transportation + ASA (automobile), Italian marque of automobiles (Autocostruzioni Società per Azioni) + ASA Aluminium Body, Argentinian manufacturer of replicas of sports cars + Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares, Mexican airport operator + African Safari Airways, airline company based in East Africa + Air services agreement, bilateral agreement to allow international commercial air transport services between signatories + Atlantic Southeast Airlines, in Atlanta area, Georgia + Airline Superintendents Association, of Trinidad & Tobago + Airservices Australia, air traffic management and related services provider for Australia + The International Civil Aviation Organization's code for Alaska Airlines + +Other + ASA ("American Standards Association") a measure of film speed in photography, later replaced by the ISO standard + Acrylonitrile styrene acrylate, a thermoplastic used for 3D printing and in the auto industry + Adaptive simulated annealing, optimization algorithm + Cisco ASA (Adaptive Security Appliances) + Allied States of America, a fictional American nation in the television show Jericho + Allmennaksjeselskap, the designation for a Norwegian public limited company + Anti-Soviet agitation, a criminal offense in the Soviet Union + ASA carriage control characters, a system used for controlling mainframe line printers + Assistant state's attorney, a title for attorneys working in the state's attorney's office in the United States + As-salamu alaykum, a greeting in Arabic that means "peace be upon you" + Auditory scene analysis, a proposed model for the basis of auditory perception + +See also + + Åsa (disambiguation) +Actium or Aktion () was a town on a promontory in ancient Acarnania at the entrance of the Ambraciot Gulf, off which Octavian gained his celebrated victory, the Battle of Actium, over Antony and Cleopatra, on September 2, 31 BCE. + +History + +Actium belonged originally to the Corinthian colonists of Anactorium, who probably founded the sanctuary of Apollo Actius. This temple was of great antiquity. In the 3rd century BCE it fell to the Acarnanians, who subsequently held their religious summits there. + +There was also an ancient festival named Actia, celebrated here in honour of the god. Augustus after his victory enlarged the temple, and revived the ancient festival, which was henceforth celebrated once in five years (πενταετηρίς, ludi quinquennales), with musical and gymnastic contests, and horse races. We learn from a Greek inscription found on the site of Actium, and which is probably prior to the time of Augustus, that the chief priest of the temple was called Ἱεραπόλος, and that his name was employed in official documents, like that of the first Archon at Athens, to mark the date. Strabo says that the temple was situated on an eminence, and that below was a plain with a grove of trees, and a dock-yard; and in another passage he describes the harbour as situated outside of the gulf. On the opposite coast of Epirus, Augustus founded the city of Nicopolis in honour of his victory. After the foundation of Nicopolis, a few buildings sprang up around the temple, and it served as a kind of suburb to Nicopolis. + +Archaeology +On October 8, 1980, the Greek Ministry of Transport and Communications reported that shipwrecks from the Battle of Actium had been located at Actium near the entrance to the Ambracan Gulf. + +In Summer 2009, archaeologists discovered the ruins of the Temple of Apollo and found two statue heads, one of Apollo, one of Artemis (Diana). + +See also +Battle of Actium + List of ancient Greek cities + Preveza the nearest modern town, connected by a 1.5 km long tunnel + +References + +External links + +Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Greece +Archaeological sites in Western Greece +Corinthian colonies +Former populated places in Greece +Roman towns and cities in Greece + +Populated places in ancient Acarnania +Amway (short for "American Way") is an American multi-level marketing (MLM) company that sells health, beauty, and home care products. The company was founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos and is based in Ada, Michigan. Amway and its sister companies under Alticor reported sales of $8.9 billion in 2019. It is the largest multi-level marketing company in the world by revenue. It conducts business through a number of affiliated companies in more than a hundred countries and territories. + +Amway has been investigated in various countries and by institutions such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for alleged pyramid scheme practices. It has never been found guilty, though it has paid tens of millions of dollars to settle these suits. + +History + +Founding + +Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos had been friends since school days and business partners in various endeavors, including a hamburger stand, an air charter service, and a sailing business. In 1949, they were introduced to the Nutrilite Products Corporation by Van Andel's second cousin Neil Maaskant. DeVos and Van Andel signed up to become distributors for Nutrilite food supplements in August. They sold their first box the next day for $19.50, but lost interest for the next two weeks. They traveled to Chicago to attend a Nutrilite seminar soon afterward, at the urging of Maaskant, who had become their sponsor. They watched promotional filmstrips and listened to talks by company representatives and successful distributors, then they decided to pursue the Nutrilite business. They sold their second box of supplements on their return trip to Michigan, and rapidly proceeded to develop the business further. + +Earlier in 1949, DeVos and Van Andel had formed the Ja-Ri Corporation (abbreviated from their respective first names) to import wooden goods from South American countries. After the Chicago seminar, they turned Ja-Ri into a Nutrilite distributorship instead. In addition to profits on each product sold, Nutrilite offered commissions on sales made by new distributors introduced to the company by existing distributors—a system known as multi-level marketing or network marketing. By 1958, DeVos and Van Andel had built an organization of more than 5,000 distributors. However, they and some of their top distributors formed the American Way Association, or Amway, in April 1959 in response to concerns about the stability of Nutrilite and in order to represent the distributors and look for additional products to market. + +Their first product was called Frisk, an organic cleaner developed by a scientist in Ohio. DeVos and Van Andel bought the rights to manufacture and distribute Frisk, and later changed the name to LOC (Liquid Organic Cleaner). They subsequently formed the Amway Sales Corporation to procure and inventory products and to handle sales and marketing plans, and the Amway Services Corporation to handle insurance and other benefits for distributors. In 1960, they purchased a 50% share in Atco Manufacturing Company in Detroit, the original manufacturers of LOC, and changed its name to Amway Manufacturing Corporation. In 1964, the Amway Sales Corporation, Amway Services Corporation, and Amway Manufacturing Corporation merged to form the Amway Corporation. + +Amway bought a controlling interest in Nutrilite in 1972 and full ownership in 1994. + +International expansion +Amway expanded to Australia in 1971, to parts of Europe in 1973, to parts of Asia in 1974, to Japan in 1979, to Latin America in 1985, to Thailand in 1987, to China in 1995, to Africa in 1997, to India and Scandinavia in 1998, to Ukraine in 2003, to Russia in 2005, and to Vietnam in 2008. + +In 2014, a Russian loyalty card program called "Alfa-Amway" was created when Amway joined with Alfa-Bank. + +Amway was ranked by Forbes as the 42nd-largest privately held company in the United States in 2018, and as the number one largest company on the Direct Selling News Global 100 list in 2018. + +Quixtar + +The founders of the Amway corporation established a new holding company in 1999, named Alticor, and launched three new companies: a sister (and separate) Internet-focused company named Quixtar, Access Business Group, and Pyxis Innovations. Pyxis, later replaced by Fulton Innovation, pursued research and development and Access Business Group handled manufacturing and logistics for Amway, Quixtar, and third-party clients. + +The main difference was that all "Independent Business Owners" (IBO) could order directly from Amway on the Internet, rather than from their upline "direct distributor", and have products shipped directly to their home. The Amway name continued being used in the rest of the world. Virtually all Amway distributors in North America switched to Quixtar, prompting Alticor to close Amway North America after 2001. In June 2007, it was announced that the Quixtar brand would be phased out over an eighteen– to twenty-four–month period in favor of a unified Amway brand (Amway Global) worldwide. + +Global markets +According to the Amway website, the company operated in over 100 countries and territories, organized into regional markets: the Americas, Europe, greater China, Japan and Korea, and SE Asia/Australia. Amway's top ten markets are China, Korea, the United States, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, India, Russia, Malaysia and Italy. + +In 2008, Alticor announced that two-thirds of the company's 58 markets reported sales increases, including strong growth in the China, Russia, Ukraine and India markets. + +Amway Australia + See Amway Australia + +Amway China +Amway China launched in 1995. In 1998, after abuses of illegal pyramid schemes led to riots, the Chinese government enacted a ban on all direct selling companies, including Amway. After the negotiations, some companies like Amway, Avon, and Mary Kay continued to operate through a network of retail stores promoted by an independent sales force. China introduced new direct selling laws in December 2005, and in December 2006, Amway was one of the first companies to receive a license to resume direct sales. However, the law forbids teachers, doctors, and civil servants from becoming direct sales agents for the company and, unlike in the United States, salespeople in China are ineligible to receive commissions from sales made by the distributors they recruit. + +In 2006, Amway China had a reported 180,000 sales representatives, 140 stores, and $2 billion in annual sales. In 2007, Amway Greater China and South-east Asia Chief Executive Eva Cheng was ranked no. 88 by Forbes magazine in its list of the World's Most Powerful Women. In 2008, China was Amway's largest market, reporting 28% growth and sales of 17 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion). According to a report in Bloomberg Businessweek in April 2010, Amway had 237 retail shops in China, 160,000 direct sales agents, and $3 billion in revenue. Since then, Amway has been continuing to expand in China, even as the government has been imposing greater restrictions on the company, and launched a WeChat mini-program in 2021. + +Brands +Amway's product line grew from LOC, with the laundry detergent SA8 added in 1960, and later the hair care product Satinique (1965) and the cosmetics line Artistry (1968). + +In 2018, nutrition and wellness products were 52% of total sales, and beauty and personal care products were 26% of total sales. + +Household cleaners +Amway is best known in North America for its original multi-purpose cleaning product LOC, SA8 laundry detergent, and Dish Drops dishwashing liquid. Consumer Reports conducted blind testing of detergents in 2010 and ranked versions of Amway's Legacy of Clean detergents 9th and 18th of 20 detergents tested. Consumer Reports program manager Pat Slaven recommended against buying the products because consumers can "go to the grocery store and get something that performs a whole lot better for a whole lot less money". + +Health and beauty +Amway's health and beauty brands include Artistry, Satinique, Hymm, Body Series, Glister, Moiskin (South America), Nutrilite, Nutriway (Scandinavia and Australia/New Zealand), Attitude (India), eSpring, Atmosphere and iCook as well as XL and XS Energy drinks. Other Amway brands that were discontinued or replaced include Tolsom, Eddie Funkhouser New York, or beautycycle (Eastern Europe). + +Artistry + +Amway's Artistry products include skin care, cosmetics, and anti-aging creams and serums. In 2011, Artistry brand reached sales of $2.8 billion. + +Nutrilite + +Amway's largest-selling brand is the Nutrilite range of health supplements (marketed as Nutriway in some countries), and in 2008 Nutrilite sales exceeded $3 billion globally. In 2001, NSF International issued its first five dietary supplement certifications to Nutrilite. + +In 2011, Nutrilite brand of vitamins and dietary supplements led Amway's sales, totaling almost $4.7 billion. According to Euromonitor International, in 2014, Nutrilite was the world's No. 1 selling vitamins and dietary supplements brand. In 2015, it was reported that according to Euromonitor International, Amway was the largest vitamin and dietary supplement vendor in China, with 11% of a market that generated 100 billion yuan ($15.6 billion) in annual sales. In 2015, it was reported that according to China Confidential consumer brands survey, Amway Nutrilite was the most popular vitamin and dietary supplement brand in China. + +In January 2009, Amway announced a voluntary recall of Nutrilite and XS Energy Bars after learning that they had possibly been manufactured with Salmonella-contaminated ingredients from Peanut Corporation of America. The company indicated that it had not received any reports of illness in connection with the products. + +In 2012, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), accused Amway of making unsubstantiated and illegal claims about Nutrilite Fruits & Vegetables 2GO Twist Tubes and threatened to launch a class action lawsuit against the company unless it took remedial action. Amway responded that the claims made about the products were properly substantiated and that they did not plan to change the product's labeling but nevertheless would review the statements that CSPI has questioned. CSPI later reported that Amway had agreed to changing product labels by the end of 2014. + +eSpring +Amway's eSpring water filter was introduced in 2000. According to Amway, it was the first system to combine a carbon block filter and ultraviolet light with electronic-monitoring technology in the filter cartridge and it became the first home system to achieve certification for ANSI/NSF Standards 42, 53, and 55. According to Amway, eSpring was the first water treatment system to receive certification for all fifteen NSF/ANSI 401 contaminants which include pharmaceuticals, pesticides and herbicides. The company also claims that, in addition to these 15 contaminants, eSpring is certified for more than 145 potential contaminants, including lead and mercury. + +eSpring was the first commercial product which employed Fulton Innovation's eCoupled wireless power induction technology. Companies licensing this technology include Visteon, Herman Miller, Motorola and Mobility Electronics. Fulton was a founding member of the Wireless Power Consortium which developed the Qi (inductive power standard). + +In 2007 eSpring was ranked fifth out of 27 brands in a comparison of water filters by Consumer Reports. + +XS +On January 14, 2015, Amway announced that it had acquired XS Energy, a California-based brand of energy drinks and snacks. The XS Energy brand has been sold as an Amway product since 2003. As of January 2015, it has been distributed in 38 countries, generating annual sales of $150 million. + +According to Euromonitor International, the XS Energy was the first exclusively sugar-free energy drink brand sold globally. + +Ditto Delivery +Ditto Delivery is Alticor's automatic, monthly replenishment program that fills orders based on customers' predetermined needs. As of May 2001, Ditto Delivery accounted for 30% of Quixtar's North American sales. + +Business model +Amway combines direct selling with a multi-level marketing strategy. Amway distributors, referred to as "independent business owners" (IBOs), may market products directly to potential customers and may also sponsor and mentor other people to become IBOs. IBOs may earn income both from the retail markup on any products they sell personally, plus a performance bonus based on the sales volume they and their downline (IBOs they have sponsored) have generated. People may also register as IBOs to buy products at discounted prices. Harvard Business School, which described Amway as "one of the most profitable direct selling companies in the world", noted that Amway founders Van Andel and DeVos "accomplished their success through the use of an elaborate pyramid-like distribution system in which independent distributors of Amway products received a percentage of the merchandise they sold and also a percentage of the merchandise sold by recruited distributors". + +Sports sponsorships +In December 2006, Alticor secured the naming rights for the Orlando Magic's home basketball arena in Orlando, Florida. The Orlando Magic is owned by the DeVos family. The arena, formerly known as the TD Waterhouse Centre, was renamed the Amway Arena. Its successor, the Amway Center, was opened in 2010, and the older arena was demolished in 2012. + +In 2009, Amway Global signed a three-year deal with the San Jose Earthquakes Major League Soccer team to become the jersey sponsor. + +In March 2009, Amway Global signed a multi-year deal to become the presenting partner of the Los Angeles Sol of Women's Professional Soccer. The deal, however, would last only one year, as the Sol folded in 2010. + +In 2011, Amway signed a three-year deal to be the presenting sponsor of the National Hockey League's Detroit Red Wings. + +Politics and culture + +Political contributions +In the 1990s, the Amway organization was a major contributor to the Republican Party (GOP) and to the election campaigns of various GOP candidates. Amway and its sales force contributed a substantial amount (up to half) of the total funds ($669,525) for the 1994 political campaign of Republican congresswoman and Amway distributor Sue Myrick (N.C.). According to two reports by Mother Jones magazine, Amway distributor Dexter Yager "used the company's extensive voice-mail system to rally hundreds of Amway distributors into giving a total of $295,871" to Myrick's campaign. According to a campaign staffer quoted by the magazine, Myrick had appeared regularly on the Amway circuit, speaking at hundreds of rallies and selling $5 and $10 audiotapes. Following the 1994 election, Myrick maintained "close ties to Amway and Yager", and raised $100,000 from Amway sources, "most notably through fundraisers at the homes of big distributors", in the 1997–98 election cycle. + +In October 1994, Amway gave the biggest corporate contribution recorded to that date to a political party for a single election, $2.5 million to the Republican National Committee (RNC), and was the number one corporate political donor in the United States. In the 2004 election cycle, the organization contributed a total of $4 million to a conservative 527 group, Progress for America. + +In July 1996, Amway co-founder Richard DeVos was honored at a $3 million fundraiser for the Republican Party, and a week later, it was reported that Amway had tried to donate $1.3 million to pay for Republican "infomercials" and televising of the GOP convention on Pat Robertson's Family Channel, but backed off when Democrats criticized the donation as a ploy to avoid campaign-finance restrictions. + +In April 1997, Richard DeVos and his wife, Helen, gave $1 million to the RNC, which, at the time, was the second-largest soft-money donation ever, behind Amway's 1994 gift of $2.5 million to the RNC. In July 1997, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and House Speaker Newt Gingrich slipped a last-minute provision into a hotly contested compromise tax bill that granted Amway and four other companies a tax break on their Asian branches that totaled $19 million. + +In a column published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper in August 1997, reporter Molly Ivins wrote that Amway had "its own caucus in Congress...Five Republican House members are also Amway distributors: Reps. Sue Myrick of North Carolina, Jon Christensen of Nebraska, Dick Chrysler of Michigan, Richard Pombo of California, and John Ensign of Nevada. Their informal caucus meets several times a year with Amway bigwigs to discuss policy matters affecting the company, including China's trade status." + +A 1998 analysis of campaign contributions conducted by Businessweek found that Amway, along with the founding families and some top distributors, had donated at least $7 million to GOP causes in the preceding decade. Political candidates who received campaign funding from Amway in 1998 included Representatives Bill Redmond (R–N.M.), Heather Wilson (R–N.M.), and Jon Christensen (R–Neb). + +According to a report by the Center for Public Integrity, in the 2004 election cycle, members of the Van Andel and DeVos families were the second, third and fifth largest donors to the Republican party. + +Dick DeVos, son of Amway founder Richard DeVos and past president of the company, served as Finance Chairman of the Republican National Committee, and his wife Betsy DeVos served as chair of the Michigan Republican Party from 1996 to 2000 and 2003 to 2005. + +In May 2005, Dick DeVos ran against incumbent Governor Jennifer Granholm in Michigan's 2006 gubernatorial election. DeVos was defeated by Granholm, who won 56% of the popular vote to his 42%. + +In August 2012, gay rights activist Fred Karger began a movement to boycott Amway in protest of the contribution from a private foundation of Amway President Doug DeVos to the National Organization for Marriage, a political organization which opposes legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States. + +On February 7, 2017, Betsy DeVos was confirmed by the Senate as the 11th Secretary of Education. + +Religion +Several sources have commented on the promotion of Christian conservative ideology within the Amway organization. Mother Jones magazine described the Amway distributor force as "heavily influenced by the company's dual themes of Christian morality and free enterprise" and operating "like a private political army". In The Cult of Free Enterprise, Stephen Butterfield, who spent time in the Yager group within Amway, wrote "[Amway] sells a marketing and motivational system, a cause, a way of life, in a fervid emotional atmosphere of rallies and political religious revivalism." Philadelphia City Paper correspondent Maryam Henein stated that "The language used in motivational tools for Amway frequently echoes or directly quotes the Bible, with the unstated assumption of a shared Christian perspective." + +Businessweek correspondents Bill Vlasic and Beth Regan characterized the founding families of Amway as "fervently conservative, fervently Christian, and hugely influential in the Republican Party", noting that "Rich DeVos charged up the troops with a message of Christian beliefs and rock-ribbed conservatism." + +High-ranking Amway leaders such as Richard DeVos and Dexter Yager were owners and members of the board of Gospel Films, a producer of movies and books geared toward conservative Christians, as well as co-owners (along with Salem Communications) of a right-wing, Christian nonprofit called Gospel Communications International. Yager, interviewed on 60 Minutes in 1983, admitted that he promotes Christianity through his Amway group, but stated that this might not be the case in other Amway groups. + +Rolling Stone's Bob Moser reported that former Amway CEO and co-founder Richard DeVos is connected with the Dominionist political movement in the United States. Moser states that DeVos was a supporter of the late D. James Kennedy, giving more than $5 million to Kennedy's Coral Ridge Ministries. DeVos was also a founding member and two-time president of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing Christian organization. + +Sociologist David G. Bromley calls Amway a "quasi-religious corporation" having sectarian characteristics. Bromley and Anson Shupe view Amway as preaching the gospel of prosperity. Patralekha Bhattacharya and Krishna Kumar Mehta, reasoned that although some critics have referred to organizations such as Amway as "cults" and have speculated that they engage in "mind control", there are other explanations that could account for the behavior of distributors. Namely, continued involvement of distributors despite minimal economic return may result from social satisfaction compensating for diminished economic satisfaction. + +Chamber of commerce +Amway co-founder Jay Van Andel (in 1980), and later his son Steve Van Andel (in 2001), were elected by the board of directors of the United States Chamber of Commerce to be the chairman of the private American lobbying organization. + +Accreditation program +In 2006, Amway (then Quixtar in North America) introduced its Professional Development Accreditation Program in response to concerns surrounding business support materials (BSM), including books, tapes and meetings. In 2010 this was superseded by its Accreditation Plus program to ensure that all BSM content is consistent with Amway's quality assurance standards, which approved providers of BSM must abide by. The quality assurance standards state that + Promoting political causes or other issues of a personal nature in the Amway Business environment is not permitted + Spiritual references are not allowed as the message or focus and presenters may not use the stage as a platform to promote religious and/or personal social beliefs + Endorsement or denouncement of specific candidates, political parties, and/or issues, unless specifically related to the operation of an Amway Business is not allowed. + +Pyramid scheme allegations +Robert Carroll, of the Skeptic's Dictionary, has described Amway as a "legal pyramid scheme", and has said that the quasi-religious devotion of its affiliates is used by the company to conceal poor performance rates by distributors. + +FTC investigation + +In a 1979 ruling, the Federal Trade Commission found that Amway did not fit the definition of a pyramid scheme because (a) distributors were not paid to recruit people, (b) it did not require distributors to buy a large stock of unmoving inventory, (c) distributors were required to maintain retail sales (at least 10 per month), and (d) the company and all distributors were required to accept returns of excess inventory from down-level distributors. + +The FTC did, however, find Amway "guilty of price-fixing and making exaggerated income claims"; the company was ordered to stop retail price fixing and allocating customers among distributors and was prohibited from misrepresenting the amount of profit, earnings or sales its distributors are likely to achieve with the business. Amway was ordered to accompany any such statements with the actual averages per distributor, pointing out that more than half of the distributors do not make any money, with the average distributor making less than $100 per month. The order was violated with a 1986 ad campaign, resulting in a $100,000 fine. + +Studies of independent consumer watchdog agencies have shown that between 990 and 999 of 1000 participants in MLMs that use Amway-type pay plans in fact lose money. According to The Skeptic's Dictionary, "In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission requires Amway to label its products with the message that 54% of Amway recruits make nothing and the rest earn on average $65 a month." + +Amway India +In September 2006, following a public complaint, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana state police (CID) initiated raids and seizures against Amway distributors in the state, and submitted a petition against them, claiming the company violated the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act. They shut down all corporate offices associated with the Amway organization including the offices of some Amway distributors. The enforcement said that the business model of the company is illegal. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had notified the police that Amway in India may be violating certain laws regarding a "money circulation scheme" and the IB Times article writes that "some say ... Amway is really more about making money from recruiting people to become distributors, as opposed to selling products". In 2008, the state government of Andhra Pradesh enacted a ban on Amway media advertisements. + +On August 6, 2011, Kerala Police sealed the offices of Amway at Kozhikode, Kannur, Kochi, Kottayam, Thrissur, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram following complaints. In November 2012, the Economic Offences Wing of Kerala Police conducted searches at the offices of Amway at Kozhikode, Thrissur and Kannur as part of its crackdown on money chain activities and closed down the firm's warehouses at these centres. Products valued at 21.4 million rupees (about US$400,000 at the time) were also seized. Later, Area manager of Amway, P. M. Rajkumar, who was arrested following searches was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days. + +On May 27, 2013, Crime Branch officials of Kerala Police arrested William S. Pinckney, Managing Director & CEO of Amway India Enterprises along with two other directors of the company from Kozhikode. The three were arrested on charges of running a pyramid scheme. They were granted bail the next day and the business was unaffected. On June 8, 2013, Kozhikode Court lifted the freeze on Amway offices in Kerala. On May 26, 2014, Pinckney was arrested by Andhra Pradesh police on the basis of a consumer complaint that alleged unethical circulation of money by Amway. He was subsequently arrested in other criminal cases registered against him in the state on allegations of financial irregularities by the company. Pinckney was jailed for two months until being released on bail. + +In 2017, a Chandigarh court framed charges, under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code and the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Scheme (Banning) Act, against two directors of Amway India, William Scot Pinckney and Prithvai Raj Bijlani. This was based on a cheating case filed by eight complainants in 2002, following which the Economic Offences Wing had filed chargesheet in 2012. A revision plea moved by the two Amway officials against the framed charges was dismissed in 2018. + +In April 2022, the Enforcement Directorate attached both movable and immovable assets of Amway India worth including the firm's factory in Dindigul along with bank accounts under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). + +U.S. class action settlement +On November 3, 2010, Amway announced that it had agreed to pay $56 million—$34 million in cash and $22 million in products—to settle a class action that had been filed in Federal District Court in California in 2007. The class action, which had been brought against Quixtar and several of its top-level distributors, alleged fraud, racketeering, and that the defendants operated as an illegal pyramid scheme. + +Amway, while noting that the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing or liability, acknowledged that it had made changes to its business operations as a result of the lawsuit. The settlement is subject to approval by the court, which was expected in early 2011. The economic value of the settlement, including the changes Amway made to its business model, totals $100 million. + +Lobbying for deregulation +The DeVoses supported an amendment to the US House of Representatives' omnibus Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2018 by US Representative John Moolenaar that would have limited the ability of the FTC to investigate whether MLMs are pyramid schemes. The amendment would have barred the Treasury Department, the Justice Department, the Small Business Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the FTC, or any other agencies from using any monies to take enforcement actions against pyramid operations for the fiscal year. It also adopted provisions from H.R. 3409, the so-called "Anti-Pyramid Scheme Promotion Act of 2016", which would blur the lines between legitimate MLM activity and pyramid schemes established under the original 1979 FTC case by deeming sales made to people inside the company as sales to an "ultimate user," thus erasing the key distinction made in the ruling between sales to actual consumers of a product and sales made to members of the MLM network as part of recruitment of members or to qualify for commissions. The amendment was opposed by a coalition of consumer interest groups including Consumer Action, the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union (the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine), Consumer Watchdog, the National Consumers League, and the United States Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG), as well as Truth in Advertising (TINA.org) in its original incarnation. + +Other legal actions + +Canadian tax fraud case +In 1982, Amway co-founders, Richard M. DeVos and Jay Van Andel, along with Amway's executive vice president for corporate services, William J. Discher Jr., were indicted in Canada on several criminal charges, including allegations that they underreported the value of goods brought into the country and had defrauded the Canadian government of more than $28 million from 1965 to 1980. The charges were dropped in 1983 after Amway and its Canadian subsidiary pleaded guilty to criminal customs fraud charges. The companies paid a fine of $25 million CAD, the largest fine ever imposed in Canada at the time. In 1989 the company settled the outstanding customs duties for $45 million CAD. + +RIAA lawsuit +The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), as part of its anti-piracy efforts, sued Amway and several distributors in 1996, alleging that copyrighted music was used on "highly profitable" training videotapes. Amway denied wrongdoing, blaming the case on a misunderstanding by distributors, and settled the case out of court for $9 million. + +Amway UK +In 2007, Amway's operations were halted in the United Kingdom and Ireland following a yearlong investigation by the UK Department of Trade and Industry, which moved to have Amway banned on the basis that the company had employed deceptive marketing, presented inflated earnings estimates, and lured distributors into buying bogus "motivation and training" tools. In 2008, a UK judge dismissed government claims against Amway's operations, saying major reforms in the prior year (which included banning non-Amway-approved motivational events and materials) had fixed company faults that favoured selling training materials over products and misrepresented earnings. However, the judge also expressed his belief that Amway allowed "misrepresentations" of its business by independent sellers in years past and failed to act decisively against the misrepresentations. + +Welcome to Life (Poland) +In 1997, Amway Poland and Network TwentyOne separately sued the makers of a Polish film, Welcome to Life (), for defamation and copyright violations. Henryk Dederko (the director) and producer were later acquitted on the charge of disseminating false information. The film, banned for 12 years, was one of the highly anticipated movies of 2009's Warsaw Film Festival and was dubbed by the promoters as a "scary movie about brainwashing" It was said to depict hard-sell "pep rallies", and to include statements from distributors that meetings had a similar tone to meetings of the Communist Party before it lost power in Poland. Methods of recruitment that confusingly resembled those of a sect were also described. A bestseller on the local video black market, the film was banned while the suit proceeded. + +In 2001 a regional court ruled in favor of Network 21; however, in 2004 the Warsaw Regional Court dismissed Amway's civil lawsuit. On appeal Amway won the case and the producers were ordered to pay a fine to a children's charity and publish a public apology. the film was still banned due to an ongoing case brought by "private individuals" ridiculed in the film. + +On December 18, 2012, the court ruled that film can be screened, but the makers have to remove "untrue information", as the screen near the end of the movie stated that 30% of company income is generated by sales of training materials and that the vast majority of its profits are shared only by the tiny fraction of top distributors. This is not the only court case, so the film is still banned on other grounds. + +Dr. Phil and Shape Up +In March 2004, TV personality Phil McGraw (a.k.a. Dr. Phil) pulled his "Shape Up" line of supplements off the market in the face of an investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The supplements were manufactured by CSA Nutraceuticals, a subsidiary of Alticor's Access Business Group. The FTC later dropped the probe, but in October 2005 a class-action lawsuit was filed against McGraw by several people who used the products and claimed that the supplements, which cost $120 per month, did not stimulate weight loss. In September 2006, a $10.5 million settlement was reached, in which Alticor agreed to provide $4.5 million in cash and $6 million in Nutrilite products to disgruntled users of Shape Up. + +Procter & Gamble +Some Amway distributors distributed an urban legend that the (old) Procter & Gamble service mark was in fact a Satanic symbol or that the CEO of P&G is himself a practicing Satanist. (In some variants of the story, it is also claimed that the CEO of Procter & Gamble donated "satanic tithes" to the Church of Satan.) Procter & Gamble alleged that several Amway distributors were behind a resurgence of the story in the 1990s and sued several independent Amway distributors and the company for defamation and slander. The distributors had used Amway's Amvox voice messaging service to send the rumor to their downline distributors in April 1995. By 2003, after more than a decade of lawsuits in multiple states, all allegations against Amway and Amway distributors had been dismissed. In October 2005, a Utah appeals court reversed part of the decision dismissing the case against the four Amway distributors, and remanded it to the lower court for further proceedings. In the lawsuit against the four former Amway distributors, Procter & Gamble was awarded $19.25 million by a U.S. District Court jury in Salt Lake City on March 20, 2007. On November 24, 2008, the case was officially settled. "It's hard to imagine they'd pursue it this long, especially after all the retractions we put out," said distributor Randy Haugen, a 53-year-old Ogden, Utah, businessman who maintained P&G was never able to show how it was harmed by the rumors. "We are stunned. All of us." + +Regulatory violations in Vietnam +In January 2017, the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade determined that Amway Vietnam had violated federal regulations by engaging in unauthorized multi-level marketing. + +Other issues + +Cultism +Some Amway distributor groups have been accused of using "cult-like" tactics to attract new distributors and keep them involved and committed. Allegations include resemblance to a Big Brother organization with a paranoid attitude toward insiders critical of the organization, seminars and rallies resembling religious revival meetings, and enormous involvement of distributors despite minimal incomes. An examination of the 1979–1980 tax records in the state of Wisconsin showed that the Direct Distributors reported a net loss of $918 on average. + +Dateline NBC +In 2004, Dateline NBC featured a critical report based on a yearlong undercover investigation of business practices of Quixtar. The report noted that the average distributor makes only about $1,400 per year and that many of the "high level distributors singing the praises of Quixtar" are actually "making most of their money by selling motivational books, tapes and seminars; not Quixtar's cosmetics, soaps, and electronics": + +In fact, about twenty high level distributors are part of an exclusive club; one that those hundreds of thousands of other distributors don't get to join. For years only a privileged few, including Bill Britt, have run hugely profitable businesses selling all those books, tapes and seminars; things the rank and file distributors can't sell themselves but, are told over and over again, they need to buy in order to succeed. + +The program said that a Quixtar recruiter featured in the report made misleading and inconsistent statements about Quixtar earnings during a recruitment meeting and had an outstanding arrest warrant for cocaine possession from the mid-90s. + +See also + + List of multi-level marketing companies + Morrison v. Amway Corp. + +References + +Books + + American Victory: The Real Story of Today's Amway, published April 1997 by Chapel & Croft Publishing; + Amway: The Cult of Free Enterprise, published December 1, 1985, by South End Press; + Amway Forever: The Amazing Story of a Global Business Phenomenon (), published August 2011 by John Wiley & Sons; + Amway: The True Story of the Company That Transformed the Lives of Millions, published September 1, 1999, by Berkley Publishing Group; + An Enterprising Life, published 1998 by HarperCollins; + An Uncommon Freedom: The Amway Experience and Why It Grows, published 1982 by Revell; + Commitment to excellence: The Remarkable Amway Story, published 1986 by Benjamin; + Compassionate Capitalism: People Helping People Help Themselves, published September 1994 by Penguin Books; + Empire of Freedom: The Amway Story and What It Means to You, published September 3, 1997, by Prima Lifestyles; + How to Be Like Rich DeVos: Succeeding with Integrity in Business and Life, published 2004 by Health Communications, Inc; + Merchants of Deception: An Insider's Chilling Look at the Worldwide, Multi-Billion Dollar Conspiracy of Lies That Is Amway and Its Motivational Organizations, published 2009 by BookSurge Publishing; + The First Eleven: The Growth of Amway in Britain Through the Lives of Its Local Heroes, published 1984 by AM Publishing; + Promises to Keep: The Amway Phenomenon and How It Works, published 1986 by Berkley Books; + The Direct Selling Revolution: Understanding the Growth of the Amway Corporation, published 1993 by WileyBlackwell; + The Possible Dream: A Candid Look At Amway, published 1977 by Revell; + Profiles of the American Dream: Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel and the Remarkable Beginnings of Amway, 1997 by Premiere Films + +External links + + + + +1959 establishments in Michigan +Companies based in Kent County, Michigan +Multi-level marketing companies +Privately held companies based in Michigan +Privately held companies of the United States +Retail companies established in 1959 +Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics" or "The Father of Capitalism", he wrote two classic works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). The latter, often abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work that treats economics as a comprehensive system and as an academic discipline. Smith refuses to explain the distribution of wealth and power in terms of God's will and instead appeals to natural, political, social, economic and technological factors and the interactions between them. Among other economic theories, the work introduced Smith's idea of absolute advantage. + +Smith studied social philosophy at the University of Glasgow and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was one of the first students to benefit from scholarships set up by fellow Scot John Snell. After graduating, he delivered a successful series of public lectures at the University of Edinburgh, leading him to collaborate with David Hume during the Scottish Enlightenment. Smith obtained a professorship at Glasgow, teaching moral philosophy and during this time, wrote and published The Theory of Moral Sentiments. In his later life, he took a tutoring position that allowed him to travel throughout Europe, where he met other intellectual leaders of his day. + +As a reaction to the common policy of protecting national markets and merchants, what came to be known as mercantilism—nowadays often referred to as "cronyism" or "crony capitalism"—Smith laid the foundations of classical free market economic theory. The Wealth of Nations was a precursor to the modern academic discipline of economics. In this and other works, he developed the concept of division of labour and expounded upon how rational self-interest and competition can lead to economic prosperity. Smith was controversial in his own day and his general approach and writing style were often satirised by writers such as Horace Walpole. + +Biography + +Early life + +Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, in Fife, Scotland. His father, also Adam Smith, was a Scottish Writer to the Signet (senior solicitor), advocate and prosecutor (judge advocate) and also served as comptroller of the customs in Kirkcaldy. Smith's mother was born Margaret Douglas, daughter of the landed Robert Douglas of Strathendry, also in Fife; she married Smith's father in 1720. Two months before Smith was born, his father died, leaving his mother a widow. The date of Smith's baptism into the Church of Scotland at Kirkcaldy was 5 June 1723 and this has often been treated as if it were also his date of birth, which is unknown. + +Although few events in Smith's early childhood are known, the Scottish journalist John Rae, Smith's biographer, recorded that Smith was abducted by Romani at the age of three and released when others went to rescue him. Smith was close to his mother, who probably encouraged him to pursue his scholarly ambitions. He attended the Burgh School of Kirkcaldy—characterised by Rae as "one of the best secondary schools of Scotland at that period"—from 1729 to 1737, he learned Latin, mathematics, history, and writing. + +Formal education + +Smith entered the University of Glasgow at age 14 and studied moral philosophy under Francis Hutcheson. Here he developed his passion for the philosophical concepts of reason, civilian liberties, and free speech. In 1740, he was the graduate scholar presented to undertake postgraduate studies at Balliol College, Oxford, under the Snell Exhibition. + +Smith considered the teaching at Glasgow to be far superior to that at Oxford, which he found intellectually stifling. In Book V, Chapter II of The Wealth of Nations, he wrote: "In the University of Oxford, the greater part of the public professors have, for these many years, given up altogether even the pretence of teaching." Smith is also reported to have complained to friends that Oxford officials once discovered him reading a copy of David Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature, and they subsequently confiscated his book and punished him severely for reading it. According to William Robert Scott, "The Oxford of [Smith's] time gave little if any help towards what was to be his lifework." Nevertheless, he took the opportunity while at Oxford to teach himself several subjects by reading many books from the shelves of the large Bodleian Library. When Smith was not studying on his own, his time at Oxford was not a happy one, according to his letters. Near the end of his time there, he began suffering from shaking fits, probably the symptoms of a nervous breakdown. He left Oxford University in 1746, before his scholarship ended. + +In Book V of The Wealth of Nations, Smith comments on the low quality of instruction and the meager intellectual activity at English universities, when compared to their Scottish counterparts. He attributes this both to the rich endowments of the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, which made the income of professors independent of their ability to attract students, and to the fact that distinguished men of letters could make an even more comfortable living as ministers of the Church of England. + +Smith's discontent at Oxford might be in part due to the absence of his beloved teacher in Glasgow, Francis Hutcheson, who was well regarded as one of the most prominent lecturers at the University of Glasgow in his day and earned the approbation of students, colleagues, and even ordinary residents with the fervor and earnestness of his orations (which he sometimes opened to the public). His lectures endeavoured not merely to teach philosophy, but also to make his students embody that philosophy in their lives, appropriately acquiring the epithet, the preacher of philosophy. Unlike Smith, Hutcheson was not a system builder; rather, his magnetic personality and method of lecturing so influenced his students and caused the greatest of those to reverentially refer to him as "the never to be forgotten Hutcheson"—a title that Smith in all his correspondence used to describe only two people, his good friend David Hume and influential mentor Francis Hutcheson. + +Teaching career +Smith began delivering public lectures in 1748 at the University of Edinburgh, sponsored by the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh under the patronage of Lord Kames. His lecture topics included rhetoric and belles-lettres, and later the subject of "the progress of opulence". On this latter topic, he first expounded his economic philosophy of "the obvious and simple system of natural liberty". While Smith was not adept at public speaking, his lectures met with success. + +In 1750, Smith met the philosopher David Hume, who was his senior by more than a decade. In their writings covering history, politics, philosophy, economics, and religion, Smith and Hume shared closer intellectual and personal bonds than with other important figures of the Scottish Enlightenment. + +In 1751, Smith earned a professorship at Glasgow University teaching logic courses, and in 1752, he was elected a member of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, having been introduced to the society by Lord Kames. When the head of Moral Philosophy in Glasgow died the next year, Smith took over the position. He worked as an academic for the next 13 years, which he characterised as "by far the most useful and therefore by far the happiest and most honorable period [of his life]". + +Smith published The Theory of Moral Sentiments in 1759, embodying some of his Glasgow lectures. This work was concerned with how human morality depends on sympathy between agent and spectator, or the individual and other members of society. Smith defined "mutual sympathy" as the basis of moral sentiments. He based his explanation, not on a special "moral sense" as the Third Lord Shaftesbury and Hutcheson had done, nor on utility as Hume did, but on mutual sympathy, a term best captured in modern parlance by the 20th-century concept of empathy, the capacity to recognise feelings that are being experienced by another being. + +Following the publication of The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith became so popular that many wealthy students left their schools in other countries to enroll at Glasgow to learn under Smith. At this time, Smith began to give more attention to jurisprudence and economics in his lectures and less to his theories of morals. For example, Smith lectured that the cause of increase in national wealth is labour, rather than the nation's quantity of gold or silver, which is the basis for mercantilism, the economic theory that dominated Western European economic policies at the time. + +In 1762, the University of Glasgow conferred on Smith the title of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.). At the end of 1763, he obtained an offer from British chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend—who had been introduced to Smith by David Hume—to tutor his stepson, Henry Scott, the young Duke of Buccleuch as preparation for a career in international politics. Smith resigned from his professorship in 1764 to take the tutoring position. He subsequently attempted to return the fees he had collected from his students because he had resigned partway through the term, but his students refused. + +Tutoring, travels, European intellectuals +Smith's tutoring job entailed touring Europe with Scott, during which time he educated Scott on a variety of subjects. He was paid £300 per year (plus expenses) along with a £300 per year pension; roughly twice his former income as a teacher. Smith first travelled as a tutor to Toulouse, France, where he stayed for a year and a half. According to his own account, he found Toulouse to be somewhat boring, having written to Hume that he "had begun to write a book to pass away the time". After touring the south of France, the group moved to Geneva, where Smith met with the philosopher Voltaire. + +From Geneva, the party moved to Paris. Here, Smith met American publisher and diplomat Benjamin Franklin, who a few years later would lead the opposition in the American colonies against four British resolutions from Charles Townshend (in history known as the Townshend Acts), which threatened American colonial self-government and imposed revenue duties on a number of items necessary to the colonies. Smith discovered the Physiocracy school founded by François Quesnay and discussed with their intellectuals. Physiocrats were opposed to mercantilism, the dominating economic theory of the time, illustrated in their motto Laissez faire et laissez passer, le monde va de lui même! (Let do and let pass, the world goes on by itself!). + +The wealth of France had been virtually depleted by Louis XIV and Louis XV in ruinous wars, and was further exhausted in aiding the American revolutionary soldiers, against the British. Given that the British economy of the day yielded an income distribution that stood in contrast to that which existed in France, Smith concluded that "with all its imperfections, [the Physiocratic school] is perhaps the nearest approximation to the truth that has yet been published upon the subject of political economy." The distinction between productive versus unproductive labour—the physiocratic classe steril—was a predominant issue in the development and understanding of what would become classical economic theory. + +Later years +In 1766, Henry Scott's younger brother died in Paris, and Smith's tour as a tutor ended shortly thereafter. Smith returned home that year to Kirkcaldy, and he devoted much of the next decade to writing his magnum opus. There, he befriended Henry Moyes, a young blind man who showed precocious aptitude. Smith secured the patronage of David Hume and Thomas Reid in the young man's education. In May 1773, Smith was elected fellow of the Royal Society of London, and was elected a member of the Literary Club in 1775. The Wealth of Nations was published in 1776 and was an instant success, selling out its first edition in only six months. + +In 1778, Smith was appointed to a post as commissioner of customs in Scotland and went to live with his mother (who died in 1784) in Panmure House in Edinburgh's Canongate. Five years later, as a member of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh when it received its royal charter, he automatically became one of the founding members of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. From 1787 to 1789, he occupied the honorary position of Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow. + +Death + +Smith died in the northern wing of Panmure House in Edinburgh on 17 July 1790 after a painful illness. His body was buried in the Canongate Kirkyard. On his deathbed, Smith expressed disappointment that he had not achieved more. + +Smith's literary executors were two friends from the Scottish academic world: the physicist and chemist Joseph Black and the pioneering geologist James Hutton. Smith left behind many notes and some unpublished material, but gave instructions to destroy anything that was not fit for publication. He mentioned an early unpublished History of Astronomy as probably suitable, and it duly appeared in 1795, along with other material such as Essays on Philosophical Subjects. + +Smith's library went by his will to David Douglas, Lord Reston (son of his cousin Colonel Robert Douglas of Strathendry, Fife), who lived with Smith. It was eventually divided between his two surviving children, Cecilia Margaret (Mrs. Cunningham) and David Anne (Mrs. Bannerman). On the death in 1878 of her husband, the Reverend W. B. Cunningham of Prestonpans, Mrs. Cunningham sold some of the books. The remainder passed to her son, Professor Robert Oliver Cunningham of Queen's College, Belfast, who presented a part to the library of Queen's College. After his death, the remaining books were sold. On the death of Mrs. Bannerman in 1879, her portion of the library went intact to the New College (of the Free Church) in Edinburgh and the collection was transferred to the University of Edinburgh Main Library in 1972. + +Personality and beliefs + +Character + +Not much is known about Smith's personal views beyond what can be deduced from his published articles. His personal papers were destroyed after his death, per his request. He never married, and seems to have maintained a close relationship with his mother, with whom he lived after his return from France and who died six years before him. + +Smith was described by several of his contemporaries and biographers as comically absent-minded, with peculiar habits of speech and gait, and a smile of "inexpressible benignity". He was known to talk to himself, a habit that began during his childhood when he would smile in rapt conversation with invisible companions. He also had occasional spells of imaginary illness, and he is reported to have had books and papers placed in tall stacks in his study. According to one story, Smith took Charles Townshend on a tour of a tanning factory, and while discussing free trade, Smith walked into a huge tanning pit from which he needed help to escape. He is also said to have put bread and butter into a teapot, drunk the concoction, and declared it to be the worst cup of tea he ever had. According to another account, Smith distractedly went out walking in his nightgown and ended up outside of town, before nearby church bells brought him back to reality. + +James Boswell, who was a student of Smith's at Glasgow University, and later knew him at the Literary Club, says that Smith thought that speaking about his ideas in conversation might reduce the sale of his books, so his conversation was unimpressive. According to Boswell, he once told Sir Joshua Reynolds, that "he made it a rule when in company never to talk of what he understood". + +Smith has been alternatively described as someone who "had a large nose, bulging eyes, a protruding lower lip, a nervous twitch, and a speech impediment" and one whose "countenance was manly and agreeable". Smith is said to have acknowledged his looks at one point, saying, "I am a beau in nothing but my books." Smith rarely sat for portraits, so almost all depictions of him created during his lifetime were drawn from memory. The best-known portraits of Smith are the profile by James Tassie and two etchings by John Kay. The line engravings produced for the covers of 19th-century reprints of The Wealth of Nations were based largely on Tassie's medallion. + +Religious views +Considerable scholarly debate has occurred about the nature of Smith's religious views. His father had shown a strong interest in Christianity and belonged to the moderate wing of the Church of Scotland, and the fact he received the Snell Exhibition suggests that he may have gone to Oxford with the intention of pursuing a career in the Church of England. + +Anglo-American economist Ronald Coase has challenged the view that Smith was a deist, based on the fact that Smith's writings never explicitly invoke God as an explanation of the harmonies of the natural or the human worlds. According to Coase, though Smith does sometimes refer to the "Great Architect of the Universe", later scholars such as Jacob Viner have "very much exaggerated the extent to which Adam Smith was committed to a belief in a personal God", a belief for which Coase finds little evidence in passages such as the one in the Wealth of Nations in which Smith writes that the curiosity of mankind about the "great phenomena of nature", such as "the generation, the life, growth, and dissolution of plants and animals", has led men to "enquire into their causes", and that "superstition first attempted to satisfy this curiosity, by referring all those wonderful appearances to the immediate agency of the gods. Philosophy afterwards endeavoured to account for them, from more familiar causes, or from such as mankind were better acquainted with than the agency of the gods". Some authors argue that Smith's social and economic philosophy is inherently theological and that his entire model of social order is logically dependent on the notion of God's action in nature. Brendan Long argues that Smith was a theist, whereas according to professor Gavin Kennedy, Smith was "in some sense" a Christian. + +Smith was also a close friend of David Hume, who, despite debate about his religious views in modern scholarship, was commonly characterised in his own time as an atheist. The publication in 1777 of Smith's letter to William Strahan, in which he described Hume's courage in the face of death in spite of his irreligiosity, attracted considerable controversy. + +Published works + +The Theory of Moral Sentiments + +In 1759, Smith published his first work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, sold by co-publishers Andrew Millar of London and Alexander Kincaid of Edinburgh. Smith continued making extensive revisions to the book until his death. Although The Wealth of Nations is widely regarded as Smith's most influential work, Smith himself is believed to have considered The Theory of Moral Sentiments to be a superior work. + +In the work, Smith critically examines the moral thinking of his time, and suggests that conscience arises from dynamic and interactive social relationships through which people seek "mutual sympathy of sentiments." His goal in writing the work was to explain the source of mankind's ability to form moral judgment, given that people begin life with no moral sentiments at all. Smith proposes a theory of sympathy, in which the act of observing others and seeing the judgments they form of both others and oneself makes people aware of themselves and how others perceive their behaviour. The feedback we receive from perceiving (or imagining) others' judgment creates an incentive to achieve "mutual sympathy of sentiments" with them and leads people to develop habits, and then principles, of behaviour, which come to constitute one's conscience. + +Some scholars have perceived a conflict between The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations; the former emphasises sympathy for others, while the latter focuses on the role of self-interest. In recent years, however, some scholars of Smith's work have argued that no contradiction exists. They contend that in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith develops a theory of psychology in which individuals seek the approval of the "impartial spectator" as a result of a natural desire to have outside observers sympathise with their sentiments. Rather than viewing The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations as presenting incompatible views of human nature, some Smith scholars regard the works as emphasising different aspects of human nature that vary depending on the situation. In the first part – The Theory of Moral Sentiments – he laid down the foundation of his vision of humanity and society. In the second – The Wealth of Nations – he elaborated on the virtue of prudence, which for him meant the relations between people in the private sphere of the economy. It was his plan to further elaborate on the virtue of justice in the third book. Otteson argues that both books are Newtonian in their methodology and deploy a similar "market model" for explaining the creation and development of large-scale human social orders, including morality, economics, as well as language. Ekelund and Hebert offer a differing view, observing that self-interest is present in both works and that "in the former, sympathy is the moral faculty that holds self-interest in check, whereas in the latter, competition is the economic faculty that restrains self-interest." + +The Wealth of Nations + +Disagreement exists between classical and neoclassical economists about the central message of Smith's most influential work: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). Neoclassical economists emphasise Smith's invisible hand, a concept mentioned in the middle of his work – Book IV, Chapter II – and classical economists believe that Smith stated his programme for promoting the "wealth of nations" in the first sentences, which attributes the growth of wealth and prosperity to the division of labour. He elaborated on the virtue of prudence, which for him meant the relations between people in the private sphere of the economy. It was his plan to further elaborate on the virtue of justice in the third book. + +Smith used the term "the invisible hand" in "History of Astronomy" referring to "the invisible hand of Jupiter", and once in each of his The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and The Wealth of Nations (1776). This last statement about "an invisible hand" has been interpreted in numerous ways. + +As every individual, therefore, endeavours as much as he can both to employ his capital in the support of domestic industry, and so to direct that industry that its produce may be of the greatest value; every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good. It is an affectation, indeed, not very common among merchants, and very few words need be employed in dissuading them from it. + +Those who regard that statement as Smith's central message also quote frequently Smith's dictum: + +It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.However, in The Theory of Moral Sentiments he had a more sceptical approach to self-interest as driver of behaviour:How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it. +In relation to Mandeville's contention that "Private Vices ... may be turned into Public Benefits", Smith's belief that when an individual pursues his self-interest under conditions of justice, he unintentionally promotes the good of society. Self-interested competition in the free market, he argued, would tend to benefit society as a whole by keeping prices low, while still building in an incentive for a wide variety of goods and services. Nevertheless, he was wary of businessmen and warned of their "conspiracy against the public or in some other contrivance to raise prices." Again and again, Smith warned of the collusive nature of business interests, which may form cabals or monopolies, fixing the highest price "which can be squeezed out of the buyers." Smith also warned that a business-dominated political system would allow a conspiracy of businesses and industry against consumers, with the former scheming to influence politics and legislation. Smith states that the interest of manufacturers and merchants "in any particular branch of trade or manufactures, is always in some respects different from, and even opposite to, that of the public ... The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from this order, ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention." Thus Smith's chief worry seems to be when business is given special protections or privileges from government; by contrast, in the absence of such special political favours, he believed that business activities were generally beneficial to the whole society: + +It is the great multiplication of the production of all the different arts, in consequence of the division of labour, which occasions, in a well-governed society, that universal opulence which extends itself to the lowest ranks of the people. Every workman has a great quantity of his own work to dispose of beyond what he himself has occasion for; and every other workman being exactly in the same situation, he is enabled to exchange a great quantity of his own goods for a great quantity, or, what comes to the same thing, for the price of a great quantity of theirs. He supplies them abundantly with what they have occasion for, and they accommodate him as amply with what he has occasion for, and a general plenty diffuses itself through all the different ranks of society. (The Wealth of Nations, I.i.10) + +The neoclassical interest in Smith's statement about "an invisible hand" originates in the possibility of seeing it as a precursor of neoclassical economics and its concept of general equilibrium; Samuelson's "Economics" refers six times to Smith's "invisible hand". To emphasise this connection, Samuelson quotes Smith's "invisible hand" statement substituting "general interest" for "public interest". Samuelson concludes: "Smith was unable to prove the essence of his invisible-hand doctrine. Indeed, until the 1940s, no one knew how to prove, even to state properly, the kernel of truth in this proposition about perfectly competitive market." + +Very differently, classical economists see in Smith's first sentences his programme to promote "The Wealth of Nations". Using the physiocratical concept of the economy as a circular process, to secure growth the inputs of Period 2 must exceed the inputs of Period 1. Therefore, those outputs of Period 1 which are not used or usable as inputs of Period 2 are regarded as unproductive labour, as they do not contribute to growth. This is what Smith had heard in France from, among others, François Quesnay, whose ideas Smith was so impressed by that he might have dedicated The Wealth of Nations to him had he not died beforehand. To this French insight that unproductive labour should be reduced to use labour more productively, Smith added his own proposal, that productive labour should be made even more productive by deepening the division of labour. Smith argued that deepening the division of labour under competition leads to greater productivity, which leads to lower prices and thus an increasing standard of living—"general plenty" and "universal opulence"—for all. Extended markets and increased production lead to the continuous reorganisation of production and the invention of new ways of producing, which in turn lead to further increased production, lower prices, and improved standards of living. Smith's central message is, therefore, that under dynamic competition, a growth machine secures "The Wealth of Nations". Smith's argument predicted Britain's evolution as the workshop of the world, underselling and outproducing all its competitors. The opening sentences of the "Wealth of Nations" summarise this policy: + +The annual labour of every nation is the fund which originally supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniences of life which it annually consumes ... . [T]his produce ... bears a greater or smaller proportion to the number of those who are to consume it ... .[B]ut this proportion must in every nation be regulated by two different circumstances; + first, by the skill, dexterity, and judgment with which its labour is generally applied; and, + secondly, by the proportion between the number of those who are employed in useful labour, and that of those who are not so employed [emphasis added]. + +However, Smith added that the "abundance or scantiness of this supply too seems to depend more upon the former of those two circumstances than upon the latter." + +Other works + +Shortly before his death, Smith had nearly all his manuscripts destroyed. In his last years, he seemed to have been planning two major treatises, one on the theory and history of law and one on the sciences and arts. The posthumously published Essays on Philosophical Subjects, a history of astronomy down to Smith's own era, plus some thoughts on ancient physics and metaphysics, probably contain parts of what would have been the latter treatise. Lectures on Jurisprudence were notes taken from Smith's early lectures, plus an early draft of The Wealth of Nations, published as part of the 1976 Glasgow Edition of the works and correspondence of Smith. Other works, including some published posthumously, include Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue, and Arms (1763) (first published in 1896); and Essays on Philosophical Subjects (1795). + +Legacy + +In economics and moral philosophy +The Wealth of Nations was a precursor to the modern academic discipline of economics. In this and other works, Smith expounded how rational self-interest and competition can lead to economic prosperity. Smith was controversial in his own day and his general approach and writing style were often satirised by Tory writers in the moralising tradition of Hogarth and Swift, as a discussion at the University of Winchester suggests. In 2005, The Wealth of Nations was named among the 100 Best Scottish Books of all time. + +In light of the arguments put forward by Smith and other economic theorists in Britain, academic belief in mercantilism began to decline in Britain in the late 18th century. During the Industrial Revolution, Britain embraced free trade and Smith's laissez-faire economics, and via the British Empire, used its power to spread a broadly liberal economic model around the world, characterised by open markets, and relatively barrier-free domestic and international trade. + +George Stigler attributes to Smith "the most important substantive proposition in all of economics". It is that, under competition, owners of resources (for example labour, land, and capital) will use them most profitably, resulting in an equal rate of return in equilibrium for all uses, adjusted for apparent differences arising from such factors as training, trust, hardship, and unemployment. + +Paul Samuelson finds in Smith's pluralist use of supply and demand as applied to wages, rents, and profit a valid and valuable anticipation of the general equilibrium modelling of Walras a century later. Smith's allowance for wage increases in the short and intermediate term from capital accumulation and invention contrasted with Malthus, Ricardo, and Karl Marx in their propounding a rigid subsistence–wage theory of labour supply. + +Joseph Schumpeter criticised Smith for a lack of technical rigour, yet he argued that this enabled Smith's writings to appeal to wider audiences: "His very limitation made for success. Had he been more brilliant, he would not have been taken so seriously. Had he dug more deeply, had he unearthed more recondite truth, had he used more difficult and ingenious methods, he would not have been understood. But he had no such ambitions; in fact he disliked whatever went beyond plain common sense. He never moved above the heads of even the dullest readers. He led them on gently, encouraging them by trivialities and homely observations, making them feel comfortable all along." + +Classical economists presented competing theories to those of Smith, termed the "labour theory of value". Later Marxian economics descending from classical economics also use Smith's labour theories, in part. The first volume of Karl Marx's major work, Das Kapital, was published in German in 1867. In it, Marx focused on the labour theory of value and what he considered to be the exploitation of labour by capital. The labour theory of value held that the value of a thing was determined by the labour that went into its production. This contrasts with the modern contention of neoclassical economics, that the value of a thing is determined by what one is willing to give up to obtain the thing. + +The body of theory later termed "neoclassical economics" or "marginalism" formed from about 1870 to 1910. The term "economics" was popularised by such neoclassical economists as Alfred Marshall as a concise synonym for "economic science" and a substitute for the earlier, broader term "political economy" used by Smith. This corresponded to the influence on the subject of mathematical methods used in the natural sciences. Neoclassical economics systematised supply and demand as joint determinants of price and quantity in market equilibrium, affecting both the allocation of output and the distribution of income. It dispensed with the labour theory of value of which Smith was most famously identified with in classical economics, in favour of a marginal utility theory of value on the demand side and a more general theory of costs on the supply side. + +The bicentennial anniversary of the publication of The Wealth of Nations was celebrated in 1976, resulting in increased interest for The Theory of Moral Sentiments and his other works throughout academia. After 1976, Smith was more likely to be represented as the author of both The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments, and thereby as the founder of a moral philosophy and the science of economics. His homo economicus or "economic man" was also more often represented as a moral person. Additionally, economists David Levy and Sandra Peart in "The Secret History of the Dismal Science" point to his opposition to hierarchy and beliefs in inequality, including racial inequality, and provide additional support for those who point to Smith's opposition to slavery, colonialism, and empire. Emphasised also are Smith's statements of the need for high wages for the poor, and the efforts to keep wages low. In The "Vanity of the Philosopher: From Equality to Hierarchy in Postclassical Economics", Peart and Levy also cite Smith's view that a common street porter was not intellectually inferior to a philosopher, and point to the need for greater appreciation of the public views in discussions of science and other subjects now considered to be technical. They also cite Smith's opposition to the often expressed view that science is superior to common sense. + +Smith also explained the relationship between growth of private property and civil government: + +Men may live together in society with some tolerable degree of security, though there is no civil magistrate to protect them from the injustice of those passions. But avarice and ambition in the rich, in the poor the hatred of labour and the love of present ease and enjoyment, are the passions which prompt to invade property, passions much more steady in their operation, and much more universal in their influence. Wherever there is great property there is great inequality. For one very rich man there must be at least five hundred poor, and the affluence of the few supposes the indigence of the many. The affluence of the rich excites the indignation of the poor, who are often both driven by want, and prompted by envy, to invade his possessions. It is only under the shelter of the civil magistrate that the owner of that valuable property, which is acquired by the labour of many years, or perhaps of many successive generations, can sleep a single night in security. He is at all times surrounded by unknown enemies, whom, though he never provoked, he can never appease, and from whose injustice he can be protected only by the powerful arm of the civil magistrate continually held up to chastise it. The acquisition of valuable and extensive property, therefore, necessarily requires the establishment of civil government. Where there is no property, or at least none that exceeds the value of two or three days' labour, civil government is not so necessary. Civil government supposes a certain subordination. But as the necessity of civil government gradually grows up with the acquisition of valuable property, so the principal causes which naturally introduce subordination gradually grow up with the growth of that valuable property. (...) Men of inferior wealth combine to defend those of superior wealth in the possession of their property, in order that men of superior wealth may combine to defend them in the possession of theirs. All the inferior shepherds and herdsmen feel that the security of their own herds and flocks depends upon the security of those of the great shepherd or herdsman; that the maintenance of their lesser authority depends upon that of his greater authority, and that upon their subordination to him depends his power of keeping their inferiors in subordination to them. They constitute a sort of little nobility, who feel themselves interested to defend the property and to support the authority of their own little sovereign in order that he may be able to defend their property and to support their authority. Civil government, so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defence of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all. + +In British imperial debates +Smith opposed empire. He challenged ideas that colonies were key to British prosperity and power. He rejected that other cultures, such as China and India, were culturally and developmentally inferior to Europe. While he favoured "commercial society", he did not support radical social change and the imposition of commercial society on other societies. He proposed that colonies be given independence or that full political rights be extended to colonial subjects. + +Smith's chapter on colonies, in turn, would help shape British imperial debates from the mid-19th century onward. The Wealth of Nations would become an ambiguous text regarding the imperial question. In his chapter on colonies, Smith pondered how to solve the crisis developing across the Atlantic among the empire's 13 American colonies. He offered two different proposals for easing tensions. The first proposal called for giving the colonies their independence, and by thus parting on a friendly basis, Britain would be able to develop and maintain a free-trade relationship with them, and possibly even an informal military alliance. Smith's second proposal called for a theoretical imperial federation that would bring the colonies and the metropole closer together through an imperial parliamentary system and imperial free trade. + +Smith's most prominent disciple in 19th-century Britain, peace advocate Richard Cobden, preferred the first proposal. Cobden would lead the Anti-Corn Law League in overturning the Corn Laws in 1846, shifting Britain to a policy of free trade and empire "on the cheap" for decades to come. This hands-off approach toward the British Empire would become known as Cobdenism or the Manchester School. By the turn of the century, however, advocates of Smith's second proposal such as Joseph Shield Nicholson would become ever more vocal in opposing Cobdenism, calling instead for imperial federation. As Marc-William Palen notes: "On the one hand, Adam Smith's late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Cobdenite adherents used his theories to argue for gradual imperial devolution and empire 'on the cheap'. On the other, various proponents of imperial federation throughout the British World sought to use Smith's theories to overturn the predominant Cobdenite hands-off imperial approach and instead, with a firm grip, bring the empire closer than ever before." Smith's ideas thus played an important part in subsequent debates over the British Empire. + +Portraits, monuments, and banknotes + +Smith has been commemorated in the UK on banknotes printed by two different banks; his portrait has appeared since 1981 on the £50 notes issued by the Clydesdale Bank in Scotland, and in March 2007 Smith's image also appeared on the new series of £20 notes issued by the Bank of England, making him the first Scotsman to feature on an English banknote. + +A large-scale memorial of Smith by Alexander Stoddart was unveiled on 4 July 2008 in Edinburgh. It is a -tall bronze sculpture and it stands above the Royal Mile outside St Giles' Cathedral in Parliament Square, near the Mercat cross. 20th-century sculptor Jim Sanborn (best known for the Kryptos sculpture at the United States Central Intelligence Agency) has created multiple pieces which feature Smith's work. At Central Connecticut State University is Circulating Capital, a tall cylinder which features an extract from The Wealth of Nations on the lower half, and on the upper half, some of the same text, but represented in binary code. At the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, outside the Belk College of Business Administration, is Adam Smith's Spinning Top. Another Smith sculpture is at Cleveland State University. He also appears as the narrator in the 2013 play The Low Road, centred on a proponent on laissez-faire economics in the late 18th century, but dealing obliquely with the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the recession which followed; in the premiere production, he was portrayed by Bill Paterson. + +A bust of Smith is in the Hall of Heroes of the National Wallace Monument in Stirling. + +Residence +Adam Smith resided at Panmure House from 1778 to 1790. This residence has now been purchased by the Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University and fundraising has begun to restore it. Part of the Northern end of the original building appears to have been demolished in the 19th century to make way for an iron foundry. + +As a symbol of free-market economics +Smith has been celebrated by advocates of free-market policies as the founder of free-market economics, a view reflected in the naming of bodies such as the Adam Smith Institute in London, multiple entities known as the "Adam Smith Society", including an historical Italian organisation, and the U.S.-based Adam Smith Society, and the Australian Adam Smith Club, and in terms such as the Adam Smith necktie. + +Former US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan argues that, while Smith did not coin the term laissez-faire, "it was left to Adam Smith to identify the more-general set of principles that brought conceptual clarity to the seeming chaos of market transactions." Greenspan continues that The Wealth of Nations was "one of the great achievements in human intellectual history." P.J. O'Rourke describes Smith as the "founder of free market economics." + +Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman believed in 1976, 200 years after the publishing of The Wealth of Nations, that the work of Adam Smith was, "...far more immediately relevant today than he was at the Centennial of The Wealth of Nations in 1876." + +Other writers have argued that Smith's support for laissez-faire (which in French means leave alone) has been overstated. Herbert Stein wrote that the people who "wear an Adam Smith necktie" do it to "make a statement of their devotion to the idea of free markets and limited government", and that this misrepresents Smith's ideas. Stein writes that Smith "was not pure or doctrinaire about this idea. He viewed government intervention in the market with great skepticism...yet he was prepared to accept or propose qualifications to that policy in the specific cases where he judged that their net effect would be beneficial and would not undermine the basically free character of the system. He did not wear the Adam Smith necktie." In Stein's reading, The Wealth of Nations could justify the Food and Drug Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, mandatory employer health benefits, environmentalism, and "discriminatory taxation to deter improper or luxurious behavior". + +Similarly, Vivienne Brown stated in The Economic Journal that in the 20th-century United States, Reaganomics supporters, The Wall Street Journal, and other similar sources have spread among the general public a partial and misleading vision of Smith, portraying him as an "extreme dogmatic defender of laissez-faire capitalism and supply-side economics". In fact, The Wealth of Nations includes the following statement on the payment of taxes: + +The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state. + +Some commentators have argued that Smith's works show support for a progressive, not flat, income tax and that he specifically named taxes that he thought should be required by the state, among them luxury-goods taxes and tax on rent. Yet Smith argued for the "impossibility of taxing the people, in proportion to their economic revenue, by any capitation". Smith argued that taxes should principally go toward protecting "justice" and "certain publick institutions" that were necessary for the benefit of all of society, but that could not be provided by private enterprise. + +Additionally, Smith outlined the proper expenses of the government in The Wealth of Nations, Book V, Ch. I. Included in his requirements of a government is to enforce contracts and provide justice system, grant patents and copy rights, provide public goods such as infrastructure, provide national defence, and regulate banking. The role of the government was to provide goods "of such a nature that the profit could never repay the expense to any individual" such as roads, bridges, canals, and harbours. He also encouraged invention and new ideas through his patent enforcement and support of infant industry monopolies. He supported partial public subsidies for elementary education, and he believed that competition among religious institutions would provide general benefit to the society. In such cases, however, Smith argued for local rather than centralised control: "Even those publick works which are of such a nature that they cannot afford any revenue for maintaining themselves ... are always better maintained by a local or provincial revenue, under the management of a local and provincial administration, than by the general revenue of the state" (Wealth of Nations, V.i.d.18). Finally, he outlined how the government should support the dignity of the monarch or chief magistrate, such that they are equal or above the public in fashion. He even states that monarchs should be provided for in a greater fashion than magistrates of a republic because "we naturally expect more splendor in the court of a king than in the mansion-house of a doge". In addition, he allowed that in some specific circumstances, retaliatory tariffs may be beneficial: + +The recovery of a great foreign market will generally more than compensate the transitory inconvenience of paying dearer during a short time for some sorts of goods. + +However, he added that in general, a retaliatory tariff "seems a bad method of compensating the injury done to certain classes of our people, to do another injury ourselves, not only to those classes, but to almost all the other classes of them". + +Economic historians such as Jacob Viner regard Smith as a strong advocate of free markets and limited government (what Smith called "natural liberty"), but not as a dogmatic supporter of laissez-faire. + +Economist Daniel Klein believes using the term "free-market economics" or "free-market economist" to identify the ideas of Smith is too general and slightly misleading. Klein offers six characteristics central to the identity of Smith's economic thought and argues that a new name is needed to give a more accurate depiction of the "Smithian" identity. Economist David Ricardo set straight some of the misunderstandings about Smith's thoughts on free market. Many continue to fall victim to the thinking that Smith was a free-market economist without exception, though he was not. Ricardo pointed out that Smith was in support of helping infant industries. Smith believed that the government should subsidise newly formed industry, but he did fear that when the infant industry grew into adulthood, it would be unwilling to surrender the government help. Smith also supported tariffs on imported goods to counteract an internal tax on the same good. Smith also fell to pressure in supporting some tariffs in support for national defence. + +Some have also claimed, Emma Rothschild among them, that Smith would have supported a minimum wage, although no direct textual evidence supports the claim. Indeed, Smith wrote: + +The price of labour, it must be observed, cannot be ascertained very accurately anywhere, different prices being often paid at the same place and for the same sort of labour, not only according to the different abilities of the workmen, but according to the easiness or hardness of the masters. Where wages are not regulated by law, all that we can pretend to determine is what are the most usual; and experience seems to show that law can never regulate them properly, though it has often pretended to do so. (The Wealth of Nations, Book 1, Chapter 8) + +However, Smith also noted, to the contrary, the existence of an imbalanced, inequality of bargaining power: +A landlord, a farmer, a master manufacturer, a merchant, though they did not employ a single workman, could generally live a year or two upon the stocks which they have already acquired. Many workmen could not subsist a week, few could subsist a month, and scarce any a year without employment. In the long run, the workman may be as necessary to his master as his master is to him, but the necessity is not so immediate. + +See also + + Critique of political economy + Organizational capital + List of abolitionist forerunners + List of Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts + People on Scottish banknotes + Adam Smith's America + +References + +Informational notes + +Citations + +Bibliography + + + + + + + + Helbroner, Robert L. The Essential Adam Smith. + + Otteson, James R. (2002). Adam Smith's Marketplace of Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. + +Further reading + + + + + + + + Hardwick, D. and Marsh, L. (2014). Propriety and Prosperity: New Studies on the Philosophy of Adam Smith. Palgrave Macmillan + + + + + + + + + + + + Phillipson, Nicholas (2010). Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life, Yale University Press, , 352 pages; scholarly biography + Pichet, Éric (2004). Adam Smith, je connais !, French biography. + Vianello, F. (1999). "Social accounting in Adam Smith", in: Mongiovi, G. and Petri F. (eds.), Value, Distribution and capital. Essays in honour of Pierangelo Garegnani, London: Routledge, . + + Wolloch, N. (2015). "Symposium on Jack Russell Weinstein's Adam Smith's Pluralism: Rationality, Education and the Moral Sentiments". Cosmos + Taxis + "Adam Smith and Empire: A New Talking Empire Podcast," Imperial & Global Forum, 12 March 2014. + +External links + + + + + + + References to Adam Smith in historic European newspapers + at the Adam Smith Institute + + +1723 births +1790 deaths +18th-century Scottish writers +18th-century British philosophers +Academics of the University of Glasgow +Age of Enlightenment +Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford +Alumni of the University of Glasgow +British classical liberal economists +British male non-fiction writers +Burials at the Canongate Kirkyard +Capitalism +Classical economists +Critics of work and the work ethic +Enlightenment philosophers +Fellows of the Royal Society +Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh +Founder Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh +Members of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh +Political realists +People of the Scottish Enlightenment +People from Kirkcaldy +Philosophers of economics +Philosophers of logic +Rectors of the University of Glasgow +Scottish business theorists +Scottish economists +Scottish logicians +Scottish philosophers +Scottish scholars and academics +Social philosophers +Virtue ethicists +British liberal theorists +Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794), also Antoine Lavoisier after the French Revolution, was a French nobleman and chemist who was central to the 18th-century chemical revolution and who had a large influence on both the history of chemistry and the history of biology. + +It is generally accepted that Lavoisier's great accomplishments in chemistry stem largely from his changing the science from a qualitative to a quantitative one. Lavoisier is most noted for his discovery of the role oxygen plays in combustion. He recognized and named oxygen (1778) and hydrogen (1783), and opposed phlogiston theory. Lavoisier helped construct the metric system, wrote the first extensive list of elements, and helped to reform chemical nomenclature. He predicted the existence of silicon (1787) and discovered that, although matter may change its form or shape, its mass always remains the same. His wife and laboratory assistant, Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier, became a renowned chemist in her own right. + +Lavoisier was a powerful member of a number of aristocratic councils, and an administrator of the Ferme générale. The Ferme générale was one of the most hated components of the Ancien Régime because of the profits it took at the expense of the state, the secrecy of the terms of its contracts, and the violence of its armed agents. All of these political and economic activities enabled him to fund his scientific research. At the height of the French Revolution, he was charged with tax fraud and selling adulterated tobacco, and was guillotined. + +Biography + +Early life and education +Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier was born to a wealthy family of the nobility in Paris on 26 August 1743. The son of an attorney at the Parlement of Paris, he inherited a large fortune at the age of five upon the death of his mother. Lavoisier began his schooling at the Collège des Quatre-Nations, University of Paris (also known as the Collège Mazarin) in Paris in 1754 at the age of 11. In his last two years (1760–1761) at the school, his scientific interests were aroused, and he studied chemistry, botany, astronomy, and mathematics. In the philosophy class he came under the tutelage of Abbé Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, a distinguished mathematician and observational astronomer who imbued the young Lavoisier with an interest in meteorological observation, an enthusiasm which never left him. Lavoisier entered the school of law, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1763 and a licentiate in 1764. Lavoisier received a law degree and was admitted to the bar, but never practiced as a lawyer. However, he continued his scientific education in his spare time. + +Early scientific work +Lavoisier's education was filled with the ideals of the French Enlightenment of the time, and he was fascinated by Pierre Macquer's dictionary of chemistry. He attended lectures in the natural sciences. Lavoisier's devotion and passion for chemistry were largely influenced by Étienne Condillac, a prominent French scholar of the 18th century. His first chemical publication appeared in 1764. From 1763 to 1767, he studied geology under Jean-Étienne Guettard. In collaboration with Guettard, Lavoisier worked on a geological survey of Alsace-Lorraine in June 1767. In 1764 he read his first paper to the French Academy of Sciences, France's most elite scientific society, on the chemical and physical properties of gypsum (hydrated calcium sulfate), and in 1766 he was awarded a gold medal by the King for an essay on the problems of urban street lighting. In 1768 Lavoisier received a provisional appointment to the Academy of Sciences. In 1769, he worked on the first geological map of France. + +Lavoisier as a social reformer + +Research benefitting the public good +While Lavoisier is commonly known for his contributions to the sciences, he also dedicated a significant portion of his fortune and work toward benefitting the public. Lavoisier was a humanitarian—he cared deeply about the people in his country and often concerned himself with improving the livelihood of the population by agriculture, industry, and the sciences. The first instance of this occurred in 1765, when he submitted an essay on improving urban street lighting to the French Academy of Sciences. + +Three years later in 1768, he focused on a new project to design an aqueduct. The goal was to bring water from the river Yvette into Paris so that the citizens could have clean drinking water. But, since the construction never commenced, he instead turned his focus to purifying the water from the Seine. This was the project that interested Lavoisier in the chemistry of water and public sanitation duties. + +Additionally, he was interested in air quality and spent some time studying the health risks associated with gunpowder's effect on the air. In 1772, he performed a study on how to reconstruct the Hôtel-Dieu hospital, after it had been damaged by fire, in a way that would allow proper ventilation and clean air throughout. + +At the time, the prisons in Paris were known to be largely unlivable and the prisoners' treatment inhumane. Lavoisier took part in investigations in 1780 (and again in 1791) on the hygiene in prisons and had made suggestions to improve living conditions, suggestions which were largely ignored. + +Once a part of the Academy, Lavoisier also held his own competitions to push the direction of research towards bettering the public and his own work. + +Sponsorship of the sciences +Lavoisier had a vision of public education having roots in "scientific sociability" and philanthropy. + +Lavoisier gained a vast majority of his income through buying stock in the General Farm, which allowed him to work on science full-time, live comfortably, and allowed him to contribute financially to better the community. (It would also contribute to his demise during the Reign of Terror many years later.) + +It was very difficult to secure public funding for the sciences at the time, and additionally not very financially profitable for the average scientist, so Lavoisier used his wealth to open a very expensive and sophisticated laboratory in France so that aspiring scientists could study without the barriers of securing funding for their research. + +He also pushed for public education in the sciences. He founded two organizations, and Musée des Arts et Métiers, which were created to serve as educational tools for the public. Funded by the wealthy and noble, the Lycée regularly taught courses to the public beginning in 1793. + +Ferme générale and marriage + +At the age of 26, around the time he was elected to the Academy of Sciences, Lavoisier bought a share in the Ferme générale, a tax farming financial company which advanced the estimated tax revenue to the royal government in return for the right to collect the taxes. On behalf of the Ferme générale Lavoisier commissioned the building of a wall around Paris so that customs duties could be collected from those transporting goods into and out of the city. His participation in the collection of its taxes did not help his reputation when the Reign of Terror began in France, as taxes and poor government reform were the primary motivators during the French Revolution. + +Lavoisier consolidated his social and economic position when, in 1771 at age 28, he married Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze, the 13-year-old daughter of a senior member of the Ferme générale. She was to play an important part in Lavoisier's scientific career—notably, she translated English documents for him, including Richard Kirwan's Essay on Phlogiston and Joseph Priestley's research. In addition, she assisted him in the laboratory and created many sketches and carved engravings of the laboratory instruments used by Lavoisier and his colleagues for their scientific works. Madame Lavoisier edited and published Antoine's memoirs (whether any English translations of those memoirs have survived is unknown as of today) and hosted parties at which eminent scientists discussed ideas and problems related to chemistry. + +A portrait of Antoine and Marie-Anne Lavoisier was painted by the famed artist Jacques-Louis David. Completed in 1788 on the eve of the Revolution, the painting was denied a customary public display at the Paris Salon for fear that it might inflame anti-aristocratic passions. + +For three years following his entry into the Ferme générale, Lavoisier's scientific activity diminished somewhat, for much of his time was taken up with official Ferme générale business. He did, however, present one important memoir to the Academy of Sciences during this period, on the supposed conversion of water into earth by evaporation. By a very precise quantitative experiment, Lavoisier showed that the "earthy" sediment produced after long-continued reflux heating of water in a glass vessel was not due to a conversion of the water into earth but rather to the gradual disintegration of the inside of the glass vessel produced by the boiling water. He also attempted to introduce reforms in the French monetary and taxation system to help the peasants. + +Adulteration of tobacco +The Farmers General held a monopoly of the production, import and sale of tobacco in France, and the taxes they levied on tobacco brought revenues of 30 million livres a year. This revenue began to fall because of a growing black market in tobacco that was smuggled and adulterated, most commonly with ash and water. Lavoisier devised a method of checking whether ash had been mixed in with tobacco: "When a spirit of vitriol, aqua fortis or some other acid solution is poured on ash, there is an immediate very intense effervescent reaction, accompanied by an easily detected noise." Lavoisier also noticed that the addition of a small amount of ash improved the flavour of tobacco. Of one vendor selling adulterated goods, he wrote "His tobacco enjoys a very good reputation in the province... the very small proportion of ash that is added gives it a particularly pungent flavour that consumers look for. Perhaps the Farm could gain some advantage by adding a bit of this liquid mixture when the tobacco is fabricated." Lavoisier also found that while adding a lot of water to bulk the tobacco up would cause it to ferment and smell bad, the addition of a very small amount improved the product. Thereafter the factories of the Farmers General added, as he recommended, a consistent 6.3% of water by volume to the tobacco they processed. To allow for this addition, the Farmers General delivered to retailers seventeen ounces of tobacco while only charging for sixteen. To ensure that only these authorised amounts were added, and to exclude the black market, Lavoisier saw to it that a watertight system of checks, accounts, supervision and testing made it very difficult for retailers to source contraband tobacco or to improve their profits by bulking it up. He was energetic and rigorous in implementing this, and the systems he introduced were deeply unpopular with the tobacco retailers across the country. This unpopularity was to have consequences for him during the French Revolution. + +Royal Commission on Agriculture +Lavoisier urged the establishment of a Royal Commission on Agriculture. He then served as its Secretary and spent considerable sums of his own money in order to improve the agricultural yields in the Sologne, an area where farmland was of poor quality. The humidity of the region often led to a blight of the rye harvest, causing outbreaks of ergotism among the population. In 1788 Lavoisier presented a report to the Commission detailing ten years of efforts on his experimental farm to introduce new crops and types of livestock. His conclusion was that despite the possibilities of agricultural reforms, the tax system left tenant farmers with so little that it was unrealistic to expect them to change their traditional practices. + +Gunpowder Commission + +Lavoisier's researches on combustion were carried out in the midst of a very busy schedule of public and private duties, especially in connection with the Ferme Générale. There were also innumerable reports for and committees of the Academy of Sciences to investigate specific problems on order of the royal government. Lavoisier, whose organizing skills were outstanding, frequently landed the task of writing up such official reports. In 1775 he was made one of four commissioners of gunpowder appointed to replace a private company, similar to the Ferme Générale, which had proved unsatisfactory in supplying France with its munitions requirements. As a result of his efforts, both the quantity and quality of French gunpowder greatly improved, and it became a source of revenue for the government. His appointment to the Gunpowder Commission brought one great benefit to Lavoisier's scientific career as well. As a commissioner, he enjoyed both a house and a laboratory in the Royal Arsenal. Here he lived and worked between 1775 and 1792. + +Lavoisier was a formative influence in the formation of the Du Pont gunpowder business because he trained Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, its founder, on gunpowder-making in France; the latter said that the Du Pont gunpowder mills "would never have been started but for his kindness to me." + +During the Revolution +In June 1791, Lavoisier made a loan of 71,000 livres to Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours to buy a printing works so that du Pont could publish a newspaper, La Correspondance Patriotique. The plan was for this to include both reports of debates in the National Constituent Assembly as well as papers from the Academy of Sciences. The revolution quickly disrupted the elder du Pont's first newspaper, but his son E.I. du Pont soon launched Le Republicain and published Lavoisier's latest chemistry texts. + +Lavoisier also chaired the commission set up to establish a uniform system of weights and measures which in March 1791 recommended the adoption of the metric system. The new system of weights and measures was adopted by the Convention on 1 August 1793. Lavoisier was one of the 27 Farmers General who, by order of the Convention, were all to be detained. Although temporarily going into hiding, on 30 November 1793 he handed himself into the Port Royal convent for questioning. He claimed he had not operated on this commission for many years, having instead devoted himself to science. + +Lavoisier himself was removed from the commission on weights and measures on 23 December 1793, together with mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace and several other members, for political reasons. + +One of his last major works was a proposal to the National Convention for the reform of French education. He also intervened on behalf of a number of foreign-born scientists including mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange, helping to exempt them from a mandate stripping all foreigners of possessions and freedom. + +Final days and execution + +As the French Revolution gained momentum, attacks mounted on the deeply unpopular Ferme générale, and it was eventually abolished in March 1791. In 1792 Lavoisier was forced to resign from his post on the Gunpowder Commission and to move from his house and laboratory at the Royal Arsenal. On 8 August 1793, all the learned societies, including the Academy of Sciences, were suppressed at the request of Abbé Grégoire. + +On 24 November 1793, the arrest of all the former tax farmers was ordered. Lavoisier and the other Farmers General faced nine accusations of defrauding the state of money owed to it, and of adding water to tobacco before selling it. Lavoisier drafted their defense, refuting the financial accusations, reminding the court of how they had maintained a consistently high quality of tobacco. The court, however, was inclined to believe that by condemning them and seizing the goods of the Farmers General, it would recover huge sums for the state. Lavoisier was convicted and guillotined on 8 May 1794 in Paris, at the age of 50, along with his 27 co-defendants. + +According to popular legend, the appeal to spare his life, in order that he could continue his experiments, was cut short by the judge, Coffinhal: "La République n'a pas besoin de savants ni de chimistes; le cours de la justice ne peut être suspendu." ("The Republic needs neither scholars nor chemists; the course of justice cannot be delayed.") The judge Coffinhal himself would be executed less than three months later, in the wake of the Thermidorian reaction. + +Lavoisier's importance to science was expressed by Lagrange who lamented the beheading by saying: "Il ne leur a fallu qu'un moment pour faire tomber cette tête, et cent années peut-être ne suffiront pas pour en reproduire une semblable." ("It took them only an instant to cut off this head, and one hundred years might not suffice to reproduce its like.") + +Exoneration +A year and a half after his execution, Lavoisier was completely exonerated by the French government. During the White Terror, his belongings were delivered to his widow. A brief note was included, reading "To the widow of Lavoisier, who was falsely convicted". + +Contributions to chemistry + +Oxygen theory of combustion + +Contrary to prevailing thought at the time, Lavoisier theorized that common air combines with substance when they are burned. He demonstrated this through experiment. + +During late 1772 Lavoisier turned his attention to the phenomenon of combustion, the topic on which he was to make his most significant contribution to science. He reported the results of his first experiments on combustion in a note to the Academy on 20 October, in which he reported that when phosphorus burned, it combined with a large quantity of air to produce acid spirit of phosphorus, and that the phosphorus increased in weight on burning. In a second sealed note deposited with the Academy a few weeks later (1 November) Lavoisier extended his observations and conclusions to the burning of sulfur and went on to add that "what is observed in the combustion of sulfur and phosphorus may well take place in the case of all substances that gain in weight by combustion and calcination: and I am persuaded that the increase in weight of metallic calces is due to the same cause." + +Joseph Black's "fixed air" +During 1773 Lavoisier determined to review thoroughly the literature on air, particularly "fixed air," and to repeat many of the experiments of other workers in the field. He published an account of this review in 1774 in a book entitled Opuscules physiques et chimiques (Physical and Chemical Essays). In the course of this review, he made his first full study of the work of Joseph Black, the Scottish chemist who had carried out a series of classic quantitative experiments on the mild and caustic alkalies. Black had shown that the difference between a mild alkali, for example, chalk (CaCO3), and the caustic form, for example, quicklime (CaO), lay in the fact that the former contained "fixed air," not common air fixed in the chalk, but a distinct chemical species, now understood to be carbon dioxide (CO2), which was a constituent of the atmosphere. Lavoisier recognized that Black's fixed air was identical with the air evolved when metal calces were reduced with charcoal and even suggested that the air which combined with metals on calcination and increased the weight might be Black's fixed air, that is, CO2. + +Joseph Priestley + +In the spring of 1774, Lavoisier carried out experiments on the calcination of tin and lead in sealed vessels, the results of which conclusively confirmed that the increase in weight of metals in combustion was due to combination with air. But the question remained about whether it was in combination with common atmospheric air or with only a part of atmospheric air. In October the English chemist Joseph Priestley visited Paris, where he met Lavoisier and told him of the air which he had produced by heating the red calx of mercury with a burning glass and which had supported combustion with extreme vigor. Priestley at this time was unsure of the nature of this gas, but he felt that it was an especially pure form of common air. Lavoisier carried out his own research on this peculiar substance. The result was his memoir On the Nature of the Principle Which Combines with Metals during Their Calcination and Increases Their Weight, read to the Academy on 26 April 1775 (commonly referred to as the Easter Memoir). In the original memoir, Lavoisier showed that the mercury calx was a true metallic calx in that it could be reduced with charcoal, giving off Black's fixed air in the process. When reduced without charcoal, it gave off an air which supported respiration and combustion in an enhanced way. He concluded that this was just a pure form of common air and that it was the air itself "undivided, without alteration, without decomposition" which combined with metals on calcination. + +After returning from Paris, Priestley took up once again his investigation of the air from mercury calx. His results now showed that this air was not just an especially pure form of common air but was "five or six times better than common air, for the purpose of respiration, inflammation, and ... every other use of common air". He called the air dephlogisticated air, as he thought it was common air deprived of its phlogiston. Since it was therefore in a state to absorb a much greater quantity of phlogiston given off by burning bodies and respiring animals, the greatly enhanced combustion of substances and the greater ease of breathing in this air were explained. + +Pioneer of stoichiometry +Lavoisier's researches included some of the first truly quantitative chemical experiments. He carefully weighed the reactants and products of a chemical reaction in a sealed glass vessel so that no gases could escape, which was a crucial step in the advancement of chemistry. In 1774, he showed that, although matter can change its state in a chemical reaction, the total mass of matter is the same at the end as at the beginning of every chemical change. Thus, for instance, if a piece of wood is burned to ashes, the total mass remains unchanged if gaseous reactants and products are included. Lavoisier's experiments supported the law of conservation of mass. In France it is taught as Lavoisier's Law and is paraphrased from a statement in his Traité Élémentaire de Chimie: "Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed." Mikhail Lomonosov (1711–1765) had previously expressed similar ideas in 1748 and proved them in experiments; others whose ideas pre-date the work of Lavoisier include Jean Rey (1583–1645), Joseph Black (1728–1799), and Henry Cavendish (1731–1810). + +Chemical nomenclature + +Lavoisier, together with Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, Claude-Louis Berthollet, and Antoine François de Fourcroy, submitted a new program for the reforms of chemical nomenclature to the Academy in 1787, for there was virtually no rational system of chemical nomenclature at this time. This work, titled Méthode de nomenclature chimique (Method of Chemical Nomenclature, 1787), introduced a new system which was tied inextricably to Lavoisier's new oxygen theory of chemistry. + +The classical elements of earth, air, fire, and water were discarded, and instead some 33 substances which could not be decomposed into simpler substances by any known chemical means were provisionally listed as elements. The elements included light; caloric (matter of heat); the principles of oxygen, hydrogen, and azote (nitrogen); carbon; sulfur; phosphorus; the yet unknown "radicals" of muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid), boric acid, and "fluoric" acid; 17 metals; 5 earths (mainly oxides of yet unknown metals such as magnesia, baria, and strontia); three alkalies (potash, soda, and ammonia); and the "radicals" of 19 organic acids. + +The acids, regarded in the new system as compounds of various elements with oxygen, were given names which indicated the element involved together with the degree of oxygenation of that element, for example sulfuric and sulfurous acids, phosphoric and phosphorous acids, nitric and nitrous acids, the "ic" termination indicating acids with a higher proportion of oxygen than those with the "ous" ending. + +Similarly, salts of the "ic" acids were given the terminal letters "ate," as in copper sulfate, whereas the salts of the "ous" acids terminated with the suffix "ite," as in copper sulfite. + +The total effect of the new nomenclature can be gauged by comparing the new name "copper sulfate" with the old term "vitriol of Venus." Lavoisier's new nomenclature spread throughout Europe and to the United States and became common use in the field of chemistry. This marked the beginning of the anti-phlogistic approach to the field. + +Chemical revolution and opposition +Lavoisier is commonly cited as a central contributor to the chemical revolution. His precise measurements and meticulous keeping of balance sheets throughout his experiment were vital to the widespread acceptance of the law of conservation of mass. His introduction of new terminology, a binomial system modeled after that of Linnaeus, also helps to mark the dramatic changes in the field which are referred to generally as the chemical revolution. Lavoisier encountered much opposition in trying to change the field, especially from British phlogistic scientists. Joseph Priestley, Richard Kirwan, James Keir, and William Nicholson, among others, argued that quantification of substances did not imply conservation of mass. Rather than reporting factual evidence, opposition claimed Lavoisier was misinterpreting the implications of his research. One of Lavoisier's allies, Jean Baptiste Biot, wrote of Lavoisier's methodology, "one felt the necessity of linking accuracy in experiments to rigor of reasoning." His opposition argued that precision in experimentation did not imply precision in inferences and reasoning. Despite opposition, Lavoisier continued to use precise instrumentation to convince other chemists of his conclusions, often results to five to eight decimal places. Nicholson, who estimated that only three of these decimal places were meaningful, stated: + +Notable works + +Easter memoir +The "official" version of Lavoisier's Easter Memoir appeared in 1778. In the intervening period, Lavoisier had ample time to repeat some of Priestley's latest experiments and perform some new ones of his own. In addition to studying Priestley's dephlogisticated air, he studied more thoroughly the residual air after metals had been calcined. He showed that this residual air supported neither combustion nor respiration and that approximately five volumes of this air added to one volume of the dephlogisticated air gave common atmospheric air. Common air was then a mixture of two distinct chemical species with quite different properties. Thus when the revised version of the Easter Memoir was published in 1778, Lavoisier no longer stated that the principle which combined with metals on calcination was just common air but "nothing else than the healthiest and purest part of the air" or the "eminently respirable part of the air". The same year he coined the name oxygen for this constituent of the air, from the Greek words meaning "acid former". He was struck by the fact that the combustion products of such nonmetals as sulfur, phosphorus, charcoal, and nitrogen were acidic. He held that all acids contained oxygen and that oxygen was therefore the acidifying principle. + +Dismantling phlogiston theory + +Lavoisier's chemical research between 1772 and 1778 was largely concerned with developing his own new theory of combustion. In 1783 he read to the academy his paper entitled Réflexions sur le phlogistique (Reflections on Phlogiston), a full-scale attack on the current phlogiston theory of combustion. That year Lavoisier also began a series of experiments on the composition of water which were to prove an important capstone to his combustion theory and win many converts to it. Many investigators had been experimenting with the combination of Henry Cavendish's inflammable air, which Lavoisier termed hydrogen (Greek for "water-former"), with "dephlogisticated air" (air in the process of combustion, now known to be oxygen) by electrically sparking mixtures of the gases. All of the researchers noted Cavendish's production of pure water by burning hydrogen in oxygen, but they interpreted the reaction in varying ways within the framework of phlogiston theory. Lavoisier learned of Cavendish's experiment in June 1783 via Charles Blagden (before the results were published in 1784), and immediately recognized water as the oxide of a hydroelectric gas. + +In cooperation with Laplace, Lavoisier synthesized water by burning jets of hydrogen and oxygen in a bell jar over mercury. The quantitative results were good enough to support the contention that water was not an element, as had been thought for over 2,000 years, but a compound of two gases, hydrogen and oxygen. The interpretation of water as a compound explained the inflammable air generated from dissolving metals in acids (hydrogen produced when water decomposes) and the reduction of calces by inflammable air (a combination of gas from calx with oxygen to form water). + +Despite these experiments, Lavoisier's antiphlogistic approach remained unaccepted by many other chemists. Lavoisier labored to provide definitive proof of the composition of water, attempting to use this in support of his theory. Working with Jean-Baptiste Meusnier, Lavoisier passed water through a red-hot iron gun barrel, allowing the oxygen to form an oxide with the iron and the hydrogen to emerge from the end of the pipe. He submitted his findings of the composition of water to the Académie des Sciences in April 1784, reporting his figures to eight decimal places. Opposition responded to this further experimentation by stating that Lavoisier continued to draw the incorrect conclusions and that his experiment demonstrated the displacement of phlogiston from iron by the combination of water with the metal. Lavoisier developed a new apparatus which used a pneumatic trough, a set of balances, a thermometer, and a barometer, all calibrated carefully. Thirty savants were invited to witness the decomposition and synthesis of water using this apparatus, convincing many who attended of the correctness of Lavoisier's theories. This demonstration established water as a compound of oxygen and hydrogen with great certainty for those who viewed it. The dissemination of the experiment, however, proved subpar, as it lacked the details to properly display the amount of precision taken in the measurements. The paper ended with a hasty statement that the experiment was "more than sufficient to lay hold of the certainty of the proposition" of the composition of water and stated that the methods used in the experiment would unite chemistry with the other physical sciences and advance discoveries. + +Elementary Treatise of Chemistry + +Lavoisier employed the new nomenclature in his Traité élémentaire de chimie (Elementary Treatise on Chemistry), published in 1789. This work represents the synthesis of Lavoisier's contribution to chemistry and can be considered the first modern textbook on the subject. The core of the work was the oxygen theory, and the work became a most effective vehicle for the transmission of the new doctrines. It presented a unified view of new theories of chemistry, contained a clear statement of the law of conservation of mass, and denied the existence of phlogiston. This text clarified the concept of an element as a substance that could not be broken down by any known method of chemical analysis and presented Lavoisier's theory of the formation of chemical compounds from elements. It remains a classic in the history of science. While many leading chemists of the time refused to accept Lavoisier's new ideas, demand for Traité élémentaire as a textbook in Edinburgh was sufficient to merit translation into English within about a year of its French publication. In any event, the Traité élémentaire was sufficiently sound to convince the next generation. + +Physiological work + +The relationship between combustion and respiration had long been recognized from the essential role which air played in both processes. Lavoisier was almost obliged, therefore, to extend his new theory of combustion to include the area of respiration physiology. His first memoirs on this topic were read to the Academy of Sciences in 1777, but his most significant contribution to this field was made in the winter of 1782–1783 in association with Laplace. The result of this work was published in a memoir, "On Heat." Lavoisier and Laplace designed an ice calorimeter apparatus for measuring the amount of heat given off during combustion or respiration. The outer shell of the calorimeter was packed with snow, which melted to maintain a constant temperature of around an inner shell filled with ice. By measuring the quantity of carbon dioxide and heat produced by confining a live guinea pig in this apparatus, and by comparing the amount of heat produced when sufficient carbon was burned in the ice calorimeter to produce the same amount of carbon dioxide as that which the guinea pig exhaled, they concluded that respiration was, in fact, a slow combustion process. Lavoisier stated, "la respiration est donc une combustion," that is, respiratory gas exchange is a combustion, like that of a candle burning. + +This continuous slow combustion, which they supposed took place in the lungs, enabled the living animal to maintain its body temperature above that of its surroundings, thus accounting for the puzzling phenomenon of animal heat. Lavoisier continued these respiration experiments in 1789–1790 in cooperation with Armand Seguin. They designed an ambitious set of experiments to study the whole process of body metabolism and respiration using Seguin as a human guinea pig in the experiments. Their work was only partially completed and published because of the Revolution's disruption, but Lavoisier's pioneering work in this field inspired similar research on physiological processes for generations. + +Legacy + +Lavoisier's fundamental contributions to chemistry were a result of a conscious effort to fit all experiments into the framework of a single theory. He established the consistent use of the chemical balance, used oxygen to overthrow the phlogiston theory, and developed a new system of chemical nomenclature which held that oxygen was an essential constituent of all acids (which later turned out to be erroneous). + +Lavoisier also did early research in physical chemistry and thermodynamics in joint experiments with Laplace. They used a calorimeter to estimate the heat evolved per unit of carbon dioxide produced, eventually finding the same ratio for a flame and animals, indicating that animals produced energy by a type of combustion reaction. + +Lavoisier also contributed to early ideas on composition and chemical changes by stating the radical theory, believing that radicals, which function as a single group in a chemical process, combine with oxygen in reactions. He also introduced the possibility of allotropy in chemical elements when he discovered that diamond is a crystalline form of carbon. + +He was also responsible for the construction of the gasometer, an expensive instrument he used at his demonstrations. While he used his gasometer exclusively for these, he also created smaller, cheaper, more practical gasometers that worked with a sufficient degree of precision that more chemists could recreate. + +Overall, his contributions are considered the most important in advancing chemistry to the level reached in physics and mathematics during the 18th century. + +Mount Lavoisier in New Zealand's Paparoa Range was named after him in 1970 by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. + +Awards and honours +During his lifetime, Lavoisier was awarded a gold medal by the King of France for his work on urban street lighting (1766), and was appointed to the French Academy of Sciences (1768). He was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1775. + +Lavoisier's work was recognized as an International Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society, Académie des sciences de L'institut de France and the Société Chimique de France in 1999. Antoine Laurent Lavoisier's Louis 1788 publication entitled Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique, published with colleagues Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, Claude Louis Berthollet, and Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, was honored by a Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award from the Division of History of Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, presented at the Académie des Sciences (Paris) in 2015. + +A number of Lavoisier Medals have been named and given in Lavoisier's honour, by organizations including the Société chimique de France, the International Society for Biological Calorimetry, and the DuPont company He is also commemorated by the Franklin-Lavoisier Prize, marking the friendship of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier and Benjamin Franklin. The prize, which includes a medal, is given jointly by the Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie in Paris, France and the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, PA, USA. + +Selected writings + + Opuscules physiques et chimiques (Paris: Chez Durand, Didot, Esprit, 1774). (Second edition, 1801) + L'art de fabriquer le salin et la potasse, publié par ordre du Roi, par les régisseurs-généraux des Poudres & Salpêtres (Paris, 1779). + Instruction sur les moyens de suppléer à la disette des fourrages, et d'augmenter la subsistence des bestiaux, Supplément à l'instruction sur les moyens de pourvoir à la disette des fourrages, publiée par ordre du Roi le 31 mai 1785 (Instruction on the means of compensating for the food shortage with fodder, and of increasing the subsistence of cattle, Supplement to the instruction on the means of providing for the food shortage with fodder, published by order of King on 31 May 1785). + (with Guyton de Morveau, Claude-Louis Berthollet, Antoine Fourcroy) Méthode de nomenclature chimique (Paris: Chez Cuchet, 1787) + (with Fourcroy, Morveau, Cadet, Baumé, d'Arcet, and Sage) Nomenclature chimique, ou synonymie ancienne et moderne, pour servir à l'intelligence des auteurs. (Paris: Chez Cuchet, 1789) + Traité élémentaire de chimie, présenté dans un ordre nouveau et d'après les découvertes modernes (Paris: Chez Cuchet, 1789; Bruxelles: Cultures et Civilisations, 1965) (lit. Elementary Treatise on Chemistry, presented in a new order and alongside modern discoveries) also here + (with Pierre-Simon Laplace) "Mémoire sur la chaleur," Mémoires de l'Académie des sciences (1780), pp. 355–408. + Mémoire contenant les expériences faites sur la chaleur, pendant l'hiver de 1783 à 1784, par P.S. de Laplace & A. K. Lavoisier (1792) + Mémoires de Physique et de Chimie, de la Société d'Arcueil (1805: posthumous) + +In translation + + Essays Physical and Chemical (London: for Joseph Johnson, 1776; London: Frank Cass and Company Ltd., 1970) translation by Thomas Henry of Opuscules physiques et chimiques + The Art of Manufacturing Alkaline Salts and Potashes, Published by Order of His Most Christian Majesty, and approved by the Royal Academy of Sciences (1784) trans. by Charles Williamos of L'art de fabriquer le salin et la potasse + (with Pierre-Simon Laplace) Memoir on Heat: Read to the Royal Academy of Sciences, 28 June 1783, by Messrs. Lavoisier & De La Place of the same Academy. (New York: Neale Watson Academic Publications, 1982) trans. by Henry Guerlac of Mémoire sur la chaleur + Essays, on the Effects Produced by Various Processes On Atmospheric Air; With A Particular View To An Investigation Of The Constitution Of Acids, trans. Thomas Henry (London: Warrington, 1783) collects these essays: + "Experiments on the Respiration of Animals, and on the Changes effected on the Air in passing through their Lungs." (Read to the Académie des Sciences, 3 May 1777) + "On the Combustion of Candles in Atmospheric Air and in Dephlogistated Air." (Communicated to the Académie des Sciences, 1777) + "On the Combustion of Kunckel's Phosphorus." + "On the Existence of Air in the Nitrous Acid, and on the Means of decomposing and recomposing that Acid." + "On the Solution of Mercury in Vitriolic Acid." + "Experiments on the Combustion of Alum with Phlogistic Substances, and on the Changes effected on Air in which the Pyrophorus was burned." + "On the Vitriolisation of Martial Pyrites." + "General Considerations on the Nature of Acids, and on the Principles of which they are composed." + "On the Combination of the Matter of Fire with Evaporable Fluids; and on the Formation of Elastic Aëriform Fluids." + “Reflections on Phlogiston”, translation by Nicholas W. Best of “Réflexions sur le phlogistique, pour servir de suite à la théorie de la combustion et de la calcination” (read to the Académie Royale des Sciences over two nights, 28 June and 13 July 1783). Published in two parts: + + + Method of chymical nomenclature: proposed by Messrs. De Moreau, Lavoisier, Bertholet, and De Fourcroy (1788) Dictionary + Elements of Chemistry, in a New Systematic Order, Containing All the Modern Discoveries (Edinburgh: William Creech, 1790; New York: Dover, 1965) translation by Robert Kerr of Traité élémentaire de chimie. (Dover). + 1799 edition + 1802 edition: volume 1, volume 2 + Some illustrations from 1793 edition + Some more illustrations from the Science History Institute + More illustrations (from Collected Works) from the Science History Institute + +See also + Royal Commission on Animal Magnetism + +Notes + +Further reading + + + Bailly, J.-S., "Secret Report on Mesmerism or Animal Magnetism", International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Vol. 50, No. 4, (October 2002), pp. 364–368. + + Catalogue of Printed Works by and Memorabilia of Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, 1743–1794... Exhibited at the Grolier Club (New York, 1952). + + + Duveen, D.I. and H.S. Klickstein, A Bibliography of the Works of Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, 1743–1794 (London, 1954) + Franklin, B., Majault, M.J., Le Roy, J.B., Sallin, C.L., Bailly, J.-S., d'Arcet, J., de Bory, G., Guillotin, J.-I. & Lavoisier, A., "Report of The Commissioners charged by the King with the Examination of Animal Magnetism", International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Vol.50, No.4, (October 2002), pp. 332–363. + +External links + + Archives: Fonds Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, Le Comité Lavoisier, Académie des sciences + Panopticon Lavoisier a virtual museum of Antoine Lavoisier + Bibliography at Panopticon Lavoisier + Les Œuvres de Lavoisier + +About his work + + Location of Lavoisier's laboratory in Paris + Radio 4 program on the discovery of oxygen by the BBC + Who was the first to classify materials as "compounds"? – Fred Senese + Cornell University's Lavoisier collection + +His writings + + + + Les Œuvres de Lavoisier (The Complete Works of Lavoisier) edited by Pietro Corsi (Oxford University) and Patrice Bret (CNRS) + Oeuvres de Lavoisier (Works of Lavoisier) at Gallica BnF in six volumes. + WorldCat author page + Title page, woodcuts, and copperplate engravings by Madame Lavoisier from a 1789 first edition of Traité élémentaire de chimie (all images freely available for download in a variety of formats from Science History Institute Digital Collections at digital.sciencehistory.org. + +1743 births +1794 deaths +Scientists from Paris +University of Paris alumni +18th-century French chemists +18th-century French writers +18th-century French male writers +French biologists +Members of the French Academy of Sciences +Fellows of the Royal Society +Discoverers of chemical elements +Independent scientists +Fermiers généraux +People of the Industrial Revolution +French Roman Catholics +French people executed by guillotine during the French Revolution +Executed scientists +Burials at Picpus Cemetery +Members of the American Philosophical Society +Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe (27 September 1818 – 25 November 1884) was a major contributor to the birth of modern organic chemistry. He was a professor at Marburg and Leipzig. Kolbe was the first to apply the term synthesis in a chemical context, and contributed to the philosophical demise of vitalism through synthesis of the organic substance acetic acid from carbon disulfide, and also contributed to the development of structural theory. This was done via modifications to the idea of "radicals" and accurate prediction of the existence of secondary and tertiary alcohols, and to the emerging array of organic reactions through his Kolbe electrolysis of carboxylate salts, the Kolbe-Schmitt reaction in the preparation of aspirin and the Kolbe nitrile synthesis. After studies with Wöhler and Bunsen, Kolbe was involved with the early internationalization of chemistry through work in London (with Frankland). He was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and won the Royal Society of London's Davy Medal in the year of his death. Despite these accomplishments and his training important members of the next generation of chemists (including Zaitsev, Curtius, Beckmann, Graebe, Markovnikov, and others), Kolbe is best remembered for editing the Journal für Praktische Chemie for more than a decade, in which his vituperative essays on Kekulé's structure of benzene, van't Hoff's theory on the origin of chirality and Baeyer's reforms of nomenclature were personally critical and linguistically violent. Kolbe died of a heart attack in Leipzig at age 66, six years after the death of his wife, Charlotte. He was survived by four children. + +Life + +Kolbe was born in Elliehausen, near Göttingen, Kingdom of Hanover (Germany) as the eldest son of a Protestant pastor. At the age of 13, he entered the Göttingen Gymnasium, residing at the home of one of the professors. He obtained the leaving certificate (the Abitur) six years later. He had become passionate about the study of chemistry, matriculating at the University of Göttingen in the spring of 1838 in order to study with the famous chemist Friedrich Wöhler. + +In 1842, he became an assistant to Robert Bunsen at the Philipps-Universität Marburg. He took his doctoral degree in 1843 at the same university. A new opportunity arose in 1845, when he became assistant to Lyon Playfair at the new Museum of Economic Geology in London and a close friend of Edward Frankland. From 1847, he was engaged in editing the Handwörterbuch der reinen und angewandten Chemie (Dictionary of Pure and Applied Chemistry) edited by Justus von Liebig, Wöhler, and Johann Christian Poggendorff, and he also wrote an important textbook. In 1851, Kolbe succeeded Bunsen as professor of chemistry at Marburg and, in 1865, he was called to the Universität Leipzig. In 1864, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1874. + +In 1853, he married Charlotte, the daughter of General-Major Wilhelm von Bardeleben. His wife died in 1876 after 23 years of happy marriage. They had four children. + +Work in chemical research + +As late as the 1840s, and despite Friedrich Wöhler's synthesis of urea in 1828, some chemists still believed in the doctrine of vitalism, according to which a special life-force was necessary to create "organic" (i.e., in its original meaning, biologically derived) compounds. Kolbe promoted the idea that organic compounds could be derived from substances clearly sourced from outside this "organic" context, directly or indirectly, by substitution processes. (Hence, while by modern definitions, he was converting one organic molecule to another, by the parlance of his era, he was converting "inorganic"—anorganisch—substances into "organic" ones only thought accessible through vital processes.) He validated his theory by converting carbon disulfide (CS2) to acetic acid () in several steps (1843–45). Kolbe also introduced a modified idea of structural radicals, so contributing to the development of structural theory. A dramatic success came when his theoretical prediction of the existence of secondary and tertiary alcohols was confirmed by the synthesis of the first of these classes of organic molecules. Kolbe was the first person to use the word synthesis in its present-day meaning, and contributed a number of new chemical reactions. + +In particular, Kolbe developed procedures for the electrolysis of the salts of fatty and other carboxylic acids (Kolbe electrolysis) and prepared salicylic acid, a building block of aspirin in a process called Kolbe synthesis or Kolbe-Schmitt reaction. His method for the synthesis of nitriles is called the Kolbe nitrile synthesis, and with Edward Frankland he found that nitriles can be hydrolyzed to the corresponding acids. +In addition to his own bench research and scholarly and editorial work, Kolbe oversaw student research at Leipzig and especially at Marburg; students spending time under his tutelage included Peter Griess, Aleksandr Mikhailovich Zaitsev (known for Zaitsev's rule predicting the product composition of elimination reactions), Theodor Curtius (discoverer of diazo compounds, hydrazines, and the Curtius rearrangement), Ernst Otto Beckmann (discoverer of the Beckmann rearrangement), Carl Graebe (discoverer of alizarin), Oscar Loew, Constantin Fahlberg, Nikolai Menshutkin, Vladimir Markovnikov (first to describe carbocycles smaller and larger than cyclohexane, and known for Markovnikov's rule describing addition reactions to alkenes), Jacob Volhard, Ludwig Mond, Alexander Crum Brown (first to describe the double bond of ethylene), Maxwell Simpson, and Frederick Guthrie. + +Work as journal editor +Besides his work for periodicals he wrote numerous books +Kolbe served for more than a decade as what, in modern terms, would be understood the senior editor of the Journal für Praktische Chemie (Journal of practical chemistry, from 1870 to 1884), Kolbe was sometimes so severely critical of the work of others, especially after about 1874, that some wondered whether he might have been suffering a mental illness. He was intolerant of what he regarded as loose speculation parading as theory, and sought through his writings to save his beloved science of chemistry from what he regarded as the scourge of modern structural theory. + +His rejection of structural chemistry, especially the theories of the structure of benzene by August Kekulé, the theory of the asymmetric carbon atom by J.H. van't Hoff, and the reform of chemical nomenclature by Adolf von Baeyer, was expressed in his vituperative articles in the Journal für Praktische Chemie. Some translated quotes illustrate his manner of articulating the deep conflict between his interpretation of chemistry and that of the structural chemists: «...Baeyer is an excellent experimentor, but he is only an empiricist, lacking sense and capability, and his interpretations of his experiments show particular deficiency in his familiarity with the principles of true science...»The violence of his language worked to limit his posthumous reputation. + +Publications + +Sources + +Notes and references + +Further reading + Kurzes Lehrbuch der Chemie . 1.Anorganische Chemie . Vieweg, Braunschweig 2. verb. Aufl. 1884 Digital edition by the University and State Library Düsseldorf + Wiley online library: Advanced Synthesis & Catalysis, ultimate descendant of the Journal für Praktische Chemie, accessed 2 July 2014. + Journal für Praktische Chemie, the article on the original German journal and its descendants, German Wikipedia, accessed 2 July 2014. + +External links + Translations English Translation of Kolbe's seminal 1860 German article in Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie. English title: "On the syntheses of salicylic acid"; German title "Ueber Synthese der Salicylsäure". + +19th-century German chemists +1818 births +1884 deaths +Foreign Members of the Royal Society +Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences +Academic staff of Leipzig University +University of Göttingen alumni +University of Marburg alumni +Academic staff of the University of Marburg +Scientists from Göttingen +People from the Kingdom of Hanover + + +Events + +Pre-1600 + 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The patrician Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days. +1428 – Peace of Ferrara between Republic of Venice, Duchy of Milan, Republic of Florence and House of Gonzaga: ending of the second campaign of the Wars in Lombardy fought until the Treaty of Lodi in 1454, which will then guarantee the conditions for the development of the Italian Renaissance. +1506 – The cornerstone of the current St. Peter's Basilica is laid. +1518 – Bona Sforza is crowned as queen consort of Poland. +1521 – Trial of Martin Luther begins its second day during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. He refuses to recant his teachings despite the risk of excommunication. + +1601–1900 +1689 – Bostonians rise up in rebellion against Sir Edmund Andros. +1738 – Real Academia de la Historia ("Royal Academy of History") is founded in Madrid. +1775 – American Revolution: The British advancement by sea begins; Paul Revere and other riders warn the countryside of the troop movements. +1783 – Three-Fifths Compromise: The first instance of black slaves in the United States of America being counted as three fifths of persons (for the purpose of taxation), in a resolution of the Congress of the Confederation. This was later adopted in the 1787 Constitution. +1831 – The University of Alabama is founded in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. +1847 – American victory at the battle of Cerro Gordo opens the way for invasion of Mexico. +1857 – "The Spirits Book" by Allan Kardec is published, marking the birth of Spiritualism in France. +1864 – Battle of Dybbøl: A Prussian-Austrian army defeats Denmark and gains control of Schleswig. Denmark surrenders the province in the following peace settlement. +1897 – The Greco-Turkish War is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire. +1899 – The St. Andrew's Ambulance Association is granted a royal charter by Queen Victoria. + +1901–present +1902 – The 7.5 Guatemala earthquake shakes Guatemala with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing between 800 and 2,000. +1906 – An earthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California. +1909 – Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome. +1912 – The Cunard liner brings 705 survivors from the to New York City. +1915 – World War I: French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines. +1916 – World War I: During a mine warfare in high altitude on the Dolomites, the Italian troops conquer the Col di Lana held by the Austrian army. +1930 – A fire kills 118 people at a wooden church in the small Romanian town of Costești, most of them schoolchildren, after starting during Good Friday services. +1939 – Robert Menzies, who became Australia's longest-serving prime minister, is elected as leader of the United Australia Party after the death of Prime Minister Joseph Lyons. +1942 – World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Japan: Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya are bombed. + 1942 – Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France. +1943 – World War II: Operation Vengeance, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island. +1945 – World War II: Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany. + 1945 – Italian resistance movement: In Turin, despite the harsh repressive measures adopted by Nazi-fascists, a great pre-insurrectional strike begins. +1946 – The International Court of Justice holds its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands. +1947 – The Operation Big Bang, the largest non-nuclear man-made explosion to that time, destroys bunkers and military installations on the North Sea island of Heligoland, Germany. +1949 – The Republic of Ireland Act comes into force, declaring Éire to be a republic and severing Ireland "association" with the Commonwealth of Nations. +1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power in Egypt. +1955 – Twenty-nine nations meet at Bandung, Indonesia, for the first Asian-African Conference. +1972 – East African Airways Flight 720 crashes during a rejected takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing 43. +1980 – The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country's first President. The Zimbabwean dollar replaces the Rhodesian dollar as the official currency. +1988 – The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II. + 1988 – In Israel John Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II, although the verdict is later overturned. +2018 – King Mswati III of Swaziland announces that his country's name will change to Eswatini. + 2018 – Anti-government protests start in Nicaragua +2019 – A redacted version of the Mueller report is released to the United States Congress and the public. + +Births + +Pre-1600 + 359 – Gratian, Roman emperor (d. 383) + 588 – K'an II, Mayan ruler (d. 658) + 812 – Al-Wathiq, Abbasid caliph (d. 847) +1446 – Ippolita Maria Sforza, Italian noble (d. 1484) +1480 – Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI (d. 1519) +1503 – Henry II of Navarre, (d. 1555) +1534 – William Harrison, English clergyman (d. 1593) +1580 – Thomas Middleton, English Jacobean playwright and poet (d. 1627) +1590 – Ahmed I, Ottoman Emperor (d. 1617) + +1601–1900 +1605 – Giacomo Carissimi, Italian priest and composer (d. 1674) +1666 – Jean-Féry Rebel, French violinist and composer (d. 1747) +1740 – Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet, English banker and politician (d. 1810) +1759 – Jacques Widerkehr, French cellist and composer (d. 1823) +1771 – Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg (d. 1820) +1772 – David Ricardo, British economist and politician (d. 1823) +1794 – William Debenham, English founder of Debenhams (d. 1863) +1813 – James McCune Smith, African-American physician, apothecary, abolitionist, and author (d. 1865) +1819 – Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Cuban lawyer and activist (d. 1874) + 1819 – Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1895) +1838 – Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, French chemist and academic (d. 1912) +1854 – Ludwig Levy, German architect (d. 1907) +1857 – Clarence Darrow, American lawyer (d. 1938) +1858 – Dhondo Keshav Karve, Indian educator and activist, Bharat Ratna Awardee (d. 1962) + 1858 – Alexander Shirvanzade, Armenian playwright and author (d. 1935) +1863 – Count Leopold Berchtold, Austrian-Hungarian politician and diplomat, Joint Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary (d. 1942) + 1863 – Linton Hope, English sailor and architect (d. 1920) + 1863 – Siegfried Bettmann, founder of the Triumph Motorcycle Company and Mayor of Coventry (d. 1955) +1864 – Richard Harding Davis, American journalist and author (d. 1916) +1874 – Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, Croatian author and poet (d. 1938) +1877 – Vicente Sotto, Filipino lawyer and politician (d. 1950) +1879 – Korneli Kekelidze, Georgian philologist and scholar (d. 1962) +1880 – Sam Crawford, American baseball player, coach, and umpire (d. 1968) +1882 – Isaac Babalola Akinyele, Nigerian ruler (d. 1964) + 1882 – Leopold Stokowski, English conductor (d. 1977) +1883 – Aleksanteri Aava, Finnish poet (d. 1956) +1884 – Jaan Anvelt, Estonian educator and politician (d. 1937) +1889 – Jessie Street, Australian activist (d. 1970) +1892 – Eugene Houdry, French-American mechanical engineer and inventor (d. 1962) +1897 – Ardito Desio, Italian geologist and cartographer (d. 2001) +1898 – Patrick Hennessy, Irish soldier and businessman (d. 1981) +1900 – Bertha Isaacs, Bahamian teacher, tennis player, politician and women's rights activist (d. 1997) + +1901–present +1901 – Al Lewis, American songwriter (d. 1967) + 1901 – László Németh, Hungarian dentist, author, and playwright (d. 1975) +1902 – Waldemar Hammenhög, Swedish author (d. 1972) + 1902 – Giuseppe Pella, Italian politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1981) +1904 – Pigmeat Markham, African-American comedian, singer, and dancer (d. 1981) +1905 – Sydney Halter, Canadian lawyer and businessman (d. 1990) + 1905 – George H. Hitchings, American physician and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998) +1907 – Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-American composer and conductor (d. 1995) +1911 – Maurice Goldhaber, Ukrainian-American physicist and academic (d. 2011) +1914 – Claire Martin, Canadian author (d. 2014) +1915 – Joy Davidman, Polish-Ukrainian American poet and author (d. 1960) +1916 – Carl Burgos, American illustrator (d. 1984) +1918 – Gabriel Axel, Danish-French actor, director, and producer (d. 2014) + 1918 – André Bazin, French critic and theorist (d. 1958) + 1918 – Shinobu Hashimoto, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018) + 1918 – Clifton Hillegass, American publisher, founded CliffsNotes (d. 2001) + 1918 – Tony Mottola, American guitarist and composer (d. 2004) +1919 – Virginia O'Brien, American actress and singer (d. 2001) + 1919 – Esther Afua Ocloo, Ghanaian entrepreneur and pioneer of microlending (d. 2002) +1920 – John F. Wiley, American football player and coach (d. 2013) +1921 – Jean Richard, French actor and singer (d. 2001) +1922 – Barbara Hale, American actress (d. 2017) +1924 – Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005) +1925 – Marcus Schmuck, Austrian mountaineer and author (d. 2005) +1926 – Doug Insole, English cricketer (d. 2017) +1927 – Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist, author, and academic (d. 2008) + 1927 – Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Polish journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Poland (d. 2013) +1928 – Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal and theologian (d. 2015) + 1928 – Otto Piene, German sculptor and academic (d. 2014) +1929 – Peter Hordern, English soldier and politician +1930 – Clive Revill, New Zealand actor and singer +1931 – Bill Miles, American director and producer (d. 2013) +1934 – James Drury, American actor (d. 2020) + 1934 – George Shirley, African-American tenor and educator +1935 – Costas Ferris, Egyptian-Greek actor, director, producer, and screenwriter +1936 – Roger Graef, American-English criminologist, director, and producer (d. 2022) + 1936 – Vladimir Hütt, Estonian physicist and philosopher (d. 1997) +1937 – Keiko Abe, Japanese marimba player and composer + 1937 – Jan Kaplický, Czech architect, designed the Selfridges Building (d. 2009) +1939 – Glen Hardin, American pianist and arranger + 1939 – Thomas J. Moyer, American lawyer and judge (d. 2010) +1940 – Joseph L. Goldstein, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate + 1940 – Mike Vickers, English guitarist, saxophonist, and songwriter +1941 – Michael D. Higgins, Irish sociologist and politician, 9th President of Ireland +1942 – Michael Beloff, English lawyer and academic + 1942 – Robert Christgau, American journalist and critic + 1942 – Jochen Rindt, German-Austrian racing driver (d. 1970) +1944 – Kathy Acker, American author and poet (d. 1997) + 1944 – Philip Jackson, Scottish sculptor and photographer +1945 – Bernard Arcand, Canadian anthropologist and author (d. 2009) +1946 – Hayley Mills, English actress +1947 – Moses Blah, Liberian general and politician, 23rd President of Liberia (d. 2013) + 1947 – Jerzy Stuhr, Polish actor, director, and screenwriter + 1947 – James Woods, American actor and producer +1948 – Régis Wargnier, French director, producer, and screenwriter +1950 – Grigory Sokolov, Russian pianist and composer +1953 – Rick Moranis, Canadian-American actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter +1954 – Robert Greenberg, American pianist and composer +1956 – Eric Roberts, American actor +1958 – Gabi Delgado-López, Spanish-German singer, co-founder of D.A.F. (d. 2020) + 1958 – Malcolm Marshall, Barbadian cricketer and coach (d. 1999) +1959 – Susan Faludi, American journalist, author and feminist + 1960 – Yelena Zhupiyeva-Vyazova, Ukrainian runner +1961 – Jane Leeves, English actress and dancer + 1961 – John Podhoretz, American journalist and author +1962 – Jeff Dunham, American ventriloquist and comedian +1963 – Eric McCormack, Canadian-American actor + 1963 – Conan O'Brien, American television host, comedian, and podcaster +1964 – Niall Ferguson, Scottish historian and academic +1967 – Maria Bello, American actress +1969 – Keith DeCandido, American author +1970 – Saad Hariri, Saudi Arabian-Lebanese businessman and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of Lebanon + 1970 – Willie Roaf, American football player +1971 – David Tennant, Scottish actor +1972 – Rosa Clemente, American journalist and activist + 1972 – Eli Roth, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter +1973 – Derrick Brooks, American football player + 1973 – Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian runner +1974 – Edgar Wright, English filmmaker +1976 – Melissa Joan Hart, American actress +1979 – Kourtney Kardashian, American television personality +1981 – Audrey Tang, Taiwanese computer scientist and academic +1983 – Miguel Cabrera, Venezuelan baseball player +1984 – America Ferrera, American actress +1985 – Łukasz Fabiański, Polish footballer +1988 – Vanessa Kirby, English actress +1989 – Jessica Jung, South Korean-American singer, songwriter, actress, author, fashion designer and businesswoman + 1989 – Alia Shawkat, American actress +1990 – Wojciech Szczęsny, Polish footballer +1992 – Chloe Bennet, American actress +1995 – Divock Origi, Belgian footballer + +Deaths + +Pre-1600 +727 – Agallianos Kontoskeles, Byzantine commander and rebel leader + 850 – Perfectus, Spanish monk and martyr + 909 – Dionysius II, Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch + 943 – Fujiwara no Atsutada, Japanese nobleman and poet (b. 906) + 963 – Stephen Lekapenos, co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire +1161 – Theobald of Bec, French-English archbishop (b. 1090) +1176 – Galdino della Sala, Italian archdeacon and saint +1430 – John III, Count of Nassau-Siegen, German count +1552 – John Leland, English poet and historian (b. 1502) +1555 – Polydore Vergil, English historian (b. 1470) +1556 – Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and politician (b. 1495) +1567 – Wilhelm von Grumbach, German adventurer (b. 1503) +1587 – John Foxe, English historian and author (b. 1516) + +1601–1900 +1636 – Julius Caesar, English judge and politician (b. 1557) +1650 – Simonds d'Ewes, English lawyer and politician (b. 1602) +1674 – John Graunt, English demographer and statistician (b. 1620) +1689 – George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, Welsh judge and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1648) +1732 – Louis Feuillée, French astronomer, geographer, and botanist (b. 1660) +1742 – Arvid Horn, Swedish general and politician (b. 1664) +1763 – Marie-Josephte Corriveau, Canadian murderer (b. 1733) +1794 – Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, English lawyer, judge, and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1714) +1796 – Johan Wilcke, Swedish physicist and academic (b. 1732) +1802 – Erasmus Darwin, English physician and botanist (b. 1731) +1832 – Jeanne-Elisabeth Chaudet, French painter (b. 1761) +1859 – Tatya Tope, Indian general (b. 1814) +1864 – Juris Alunāns, Latvian philologist and linguist (b. 1832) +1873 – Justus von Liebig, German chemist and academic (b. 1803) +1890 – Paweł Bryliński, Polish sculptor (b. 1814) +1898 – Gustave Moreau, French painter and academic (b. 1826) + +1901–present +1906 – Luis Martín, Spanish religious leader, 24th Superior-General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1846) +1912 – Martha Ripley, American physician (b. 1843) +1917 – Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist and academic (b. 1858) +1923 – Savina Petrilli, Italian religious leader (b. 1851) +1936 – Milton Brown, American singer and bandleader (b. 1903) + 1936 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer and conductor (b. 1879) +1938 – George Bryant, American archer (b. 1878) +1942 – Aleksander Mitt, Estonian speed skater (b. 1903) + 1942 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American heiress, sculptor and art collector, founded the Whitney Museum of American Art (b. 1875) +1943 – Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral (b. 1884) +1945 – John Ambrose Fleming, English physicist and engineer, invented the vacuum tube (b. 1849) + 1945 – Ernie Pyle, American journalist and soldier (b. 1900) +1947 – Jozef Tiso, Slovak priest and politician, President of Slovakia (b. 1887) +1951 – Óscar Carmona, Portuguese field marshal and politician, 11th President of Portugal (b. 1869) +1955 – Albert Einstein, German-American physicist, engineer, and academic (b. 1879) +1958 – Maurice Gamelin, Belgian-French general (b. 1872) +1963 – Meyer Jacobstein, American academic and politician (b. 1880) +1964 – Ben Hecht, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894) +1965 – Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican engineer (b. 1917) +1974 – Marcel Pagnol, French author, playwright, and director (b. 1895) +1986 – Marcel Dassault, French businessman, founded Dassault Aviation (b. 1892) +1988 – Oktay Rıfat Horozcu, Turkish poet and playwright (b. 1914) +1995 – Arturo Frondizi, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Argentina (b. 1908) +2002 – Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian ethnographer and explorer (b. 1914) +2004 – Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician, 2nd President of Fiji (b. 1920) +2008 – Germaine Tillion, French ethnologist and anthropologist (b. 1907) +2012 – Dick Clark, American television host and producer, founded Dick Clark Productions (b. 1929) + 2012 – René Lépine, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1929) + 2012 – Robert O. Ragland, American musician (b. 1931) + 2012 – K. D. Wentworth, American author (b. 1951) +2013 – Goran Švob, Croatian philosopher and author (b. 1947) + 2013 – Anne Williams, English activist (b. 1951) +2014 – Guru Dhanapal, Indian director and producer (b. 1959) + 2014 – Sanford Jay Frank, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1954) + 2014 – Brian Priestman, English conductor and academic (b. 1927) +2019 – Lyra McKee, Irish journalist (b. 1990) +2022 – Harrison Birtwistle, British composer (b. 1934) + +Holidays and observances + Christian feast day: +Apollonius the Apologist +Corebus +Cyril VI of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox Church) +Eleutherius and Antia +Galdino della Sala +Molaise of Leighlin +Perfectus +April 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) +Army Day (Iran) +Coma Patients' Day (Poland) +Friend's Day (Brazil) +Independence Day (Zimbabwe) +International Day For Monuments and Sites +Invention Day (Japan) +Victory over the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of the Ice (Russia; Julian Calendar) +World Amateur Radio Day + +References + +External links + + BBC: On This Day + + Historical Events on April 18 + +Days of the year +April + + +Events + +Pre-1600 +215 BC – A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene. +599 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul attacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico, defeating queen Yohl Ik'nal and sacking the city. +711 – Dagobert III succeeds his father King Childebert III as King of the Franks. +1014 – Battle of Clontarf: High King of Ireland Brian Boru defeats Viking invaders, but is killed in battle. +1016 – Edmund Ironside succeeds his father Æthelred the Unready as King of England. +1343 – St. George's Night Uprising commences in the Duchy of Estonia. +1348 – The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III is announced on St. George's Day. +1500 – Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvarez Cabral reaches new coastline (Brazil). +1516 – The Munich Reinheitsgebot (regarding the ingredients of beer) takes effect in all of Bavaria. +1521 – Battle of Villalar: King Charles I of Spain defeats the Comuneros. + +1601–1900 +1635 – The first public school in the United States, Boston Latin School, is founded in Boston. +1655 – The Siege of Santo Domingo begins during the Anglo-Spanish War, and fails seven days later. +1660 – Treaty of Oliva is established between Sweden and Poland. +1661 – King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey. +1815 – The Second Serbian Uprising: A second phase of the national revolution of the Serbs against the Ottoman Empire, erupts shortly after the annexation of the country to the Ottoman Empire. +1879 – Fire burns down the second main building and dome of the University of Notre Dame, which prompts the construction of the third, and current, Main Building with its golden dome. +1891 – Chilean Civil War: The ironclad Blanco Encalada is sunk at Caldera Bay by torpedo boats. + +1901–present +1918 – World War I: The British Royal Navy makes a raid in an attempt to neutralise the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. +1919 – The Estonian Constituent Assembly is held in Estonia, which marks the birth of the Estonian Parliament, the Riigikogu. +1920 – The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) is founded in Ankara. The assembly denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces the preparation of a temporary constitution. +1927 – Cardiff City defeat Arsenal in the FA Cup Final, the only time it has been won by a team not based in England. +1935 – The Polish Constitution of 1935 is adopted. +1940 – The Rhythm Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people. +1941 – World War II: The Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the invading Wehrmacht. +1942 – World War II: Baedeker Blitz: German bombers hit Exeter, Bath and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck. +1945 – World War II: Adolf Hitler's designated successor, Hermann Göring, sends him a telegram asking permission to take leadership of Nazi Germany. Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels advise Hitler that the telegram is treasonous. +1946 – Manuel Roxas is elected the last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. +1949 – Chinese Civil War: Establishment of the People's Liberation Army Navy. +1951 – Cold War: American journalist William N. Oatis is arrested for espionage by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia. +1961 – Algiers putsch by French generals. +1967 – Soviet space program: Soyuz 1 (Russian: Союз 1, Union 1) a crewed spaceflight carrying cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Komarov is launched into orbit. +1968 – Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university. +1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army and Razakars massacre approximately 3,000 Hindu emigrants in the Jathibhanga area of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). +1979 – SAETA Flight 011 crashes in Pastaza Province, Ecuador, killing all 57 people on board. The wreckage was not discovered until 1984. +1985 – Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months. +1990 – Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations and the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations. +1993 – Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum. + 1993 – Sri Lankan politician Lalith Athulathmudali is assassinated while addressing a gathering, approximately four weeks ahead of the Provincial Council elections for the Western Province. +1999 – NATO bombs the headquarters of Radio Television of Serbia, as part of their aerial campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. +2005 – The first YouTube video, titled "Me at the zoo", was published by co-founder Jawed Karim. +2013 – At least 28 people are killed and more than 70 are injured as violence breaks out in Hawija, Iraq. +2018 – A vehicle-ramming attack kills 11 people and injures 15 in Toronto. A 25-year-old suspect, Alek Minassian, is arrested. +2019 – The April 2019 Hpakant jade mine collapse in Myanmar kills four miners and two rescuers. + +Births + +Pre-1600 +1141 (probable) – Malcolm IV of Scotland (d. 1165) +1185 – Afonso II of Portugal (d. 1223) +1408 – John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford (d. 1462) +1420 – George of Poděbrady, King of Bohemia (d. 1471) +1464 – Joan of France, Duchess of Berry (d. 1505) + 1464 – Robert Fayrfax, English Renaissance composer (d. 1521) +1484 – Julius Caesar Scaliger, Italian physician and scholar (d. 1558) +1500 – Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian and academic (d. 1565) + 1500 – Johann Stumpf, Swiss writer (d. 1576) +1512 – Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel, Chancellor of the University of Oxford (d. 1580) +1516 – Georg Fabricius, German poet, historian, and archaeologist (d. 1571) +1598 – Maarten Tromp, Dutch admiral (d. 1653) + +1601–1900 +1621 – William Penn, English admiral and politician (d. 1670) +1628 – Johannes Hudde, Dutch mathematician and politician (d. 1704) +1661 – Issachar Berend Lehmann, German-Jewish banker, merchant and diplomat (d. 1730) +1715 – Johann Friedrich Doles, German composer and conductor (d. 1797) +1720 – Vilna Gaon, Lithuanian rabbi and author (d. 1797) +1744 – Princess Charlotte Amalie Wilhelmine of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön (d. 1770) +1748 – Félix Vicq-d'Azyr, French physician and anatomist (d. 1794) +1791 – James Buchanan, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 15th President of the United States (d. 1868) +1792 – Thomas Romney Robinson, Irish astronomer and physicist (d. 1882) +1794 – Wei Yuan, Chinese scholar and author (d. 1856) +1805 – Johann Karl Friedrich Rosenkranz, German philosopher and academic (d. 1879) +1812 – Frederick Whitaker, English-New Zealand lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1891) +1813 – Stephen A. Douglas, American educator and politician, 7th Illinois Secretary of State (d. 1861) + 1813 – Frédéric Ozanam, Italian-French historian and scholar (d. 1853) +1818 – James Anthony Froude, English historian, novelist, biographer and editor (d. 1894) +1819 – Edward Stafford, Scottish-New Zealand educator and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1901) +1853 – Winthrop M. Crane, American businessman and politician, 40th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1920) +1856 – Granville Woods, American inventor and engineer (d. 1910) +1857 – Ruggero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d. 1919) +1858 – Max Planck, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947) +1860 – Justinian Oxenham, Australian public servant (d. 1932) +1861 – Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, English field marshal and diplomat, British High Commissioner in Egypt (d. 1936) + 1861 – John Peltz, American baseball player and manager (d. 1906) +1865 – Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, Russian-Azerbaijani general (d. 1943) +1867 – Johannes Fibiger, Danish physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928) +1876 – Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, German historian and author (d. 1925) +1880 – Michel Fokine, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1942) +1882 – Albert Coates, English composer and conductor (d. 1953) +1888 – Georges Vanier, Canadian general and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (d. 1967) +1889 – Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (d. 1942) +1893 – Frank Borzage, American actor and director (d. 1952) +1895 – Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand author and director (d. 1982) +1897 – Folke Jansson, Swedish athlete (d. 1965) + 1897 – Lester B. Pearson, Canadian historian and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Canada, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972) +1898 – Lucius D. Clay, American general (d. 1978) +1899 – Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979) + 1899 – Minoru Shirota, Japanese physician and microbiologist, invented Yakult (d. 1982) +1900 – Jim Bottomley, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1959) + 1900 – Joseph Green, Polish-American actor and director (d. 1996) + +1901–present +1901 – E. B. Ford, English biologist and geneticist (d. 1988) +1902 – Halldór Laxness, Icelandic author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998) +1903 – Guy Simonds, English-Canadian general (d. 1974) +1904 – Clifford Bricker, Canadian long-distance runner (d. 1980) + 1904 – Louis Muhlstock, Polish-Canadian painter (d. 2001) + 1904 – Duncan Renaldo, American actor (d. 1985) +1907 – Lee Miller, American model and photographer (d. 1977) + 1907 – Fritz Wotruba, Austrian sculptor, designed the Wotruba Church (d. 1975) +1908 – Myron Waldman, American animator and director (d. 2006) +1910 – Sheila Scott Macintyre, Scottish mathematician (d. 1960) + 1910 – Simone Simon, French actress (d. 2005) +1911 – Ronald Neame, English-American director, cinematographer, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010) +1913 – Diosa Costello, Puerto Rican-American entertainer, producer and club owner (d. 2013) +1915 – Arnold Alexander Hall, English engineer, academic, and businessman (d. 2000) +1916 – Yiannis Moralis, Greek painter and educator (d. 2009) + 1916 – Sinah Estelle Kelley, American chemist (d. 1982) +1917 – Dorian Leigh, American model (d. 2008) + 1917 – Tony Lupien, American baseball player and coach (d. 2004) +1918 – Maurice Druon, French author and screenwriter (d. 2009) +1919 – Oleg Penkovsky, Russian colonel (d. 1963) +1920 – Eric Grant Yarrow, 3rd Baronet, English businessman (d. 2018) +1921 – Judy Agnew, Second Lady of the United States (d. 2012) + 1921 – Cleto Bellucci, Italian archbishop (d. 2013) + 1921 – Janet Blair, American actress and singer (d. 2007) + 1921 – Warren Spahn, American baseball player and coach (d. 2003) +1923 – Dolph Briscoe, American lieutenant and politician, 41st Governor of Texas (d. 2010) + 1923 – Avram Davidson, American soldier and author (d. 1993) +1924 – Chuck Harmon, American baseball player and scout (d. 2019) + 1924 – Bobby Rosengarden, American drummer and bandleader (d. 2007) +1926 – J.P. Donleavy, American-Irish novelist and playwright (d. 2017) + 1926 – Rifaat el-Mahgoub, Egyptian politician (d. 1990) +1928 – Shirley Temple, American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat (d. 2014) +1929 – George Steiner, French-American philosopher, author, and critic (d. 2020) +1932 – Halston, American fashion designer (d. 1990) + 1932 – Jim Fixx, American runner and author (d. 1984) +1933 – Annie Easley, American computer scientist, mathematician, and engineer (d. 2011) +1934 – George Canseco, Filipino composer and producer (d. 2004) +1936 �� Roy Orbison, American singer-songwriter (d. 1988) +1937 – Victoria Glendinning, English author and critic + 1937 – David Mills, English cricketer (d. 2013) + 1937 – Barry Shepherd, Australian cricketer (d. 2001) +1939 – Jorge Fons, Mexican director and screenwriter + 1939 – Bill Hagerty, English journalist + 1939 – Lee Majors, American actor + 1939 – Ray Peterson, American pop singer (d. 2005) +1940 – Michael Copps, American academic and politician + 1940 – Dale Houston, American singer-songwriter (d. 2007) + 1940 – Michael Kadosh, Israeli footballer and manager (d. 2014) +1941 – Jacqueline Boyer, French singer and actress + 1941 – Arie den Hartog, Dutch road bicycle racer (d. 2018) + 1941 – Paavo Lipponen, Finnish journalist and politician, 38th Prime Minister of Finland + 1941 – Michael Lynne, American film producer, co-founded New Line Cinema + 1941 – Ed Stewart, English radio and television host (d. 2016) + 1941 – Ray Tomlinson, American computer programmer and engineer (d. 2016) +1942 – Sandra Dee, American model and actress (d. 2005) +1943 – Gail Goodrich, American basketball player and coach + 1943 – Tony Esposito, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2021) + 1943 – Frans Koppelaar, Dutch painter + 1943 – Hervé Villechaize, French actor (d. 1993) +1944 – Jean-François Stévenin, French actor and director (d. 2021) +1946 – Blair Brown, American actress + 1946 – Carlton Sherwood, American soldier and journalist (d. 2014) +1947 – Robert Burgess, English sociologist and academic + 1947 – Glenn Cornick, English bass player (d. 2014) + 1947 – Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, Irish civil rights leader and politician +1948 – Pascal Quignard, French author and screenwriter + 1948 – Serge Thériault, Canadian actor +1949 – Paul Collier, English economist and academic + 1949 – David Cross, English violinist + 1949 – John Miles, British rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist (d. 2021) +1950 – Rowley Leigh, English chef and journalist + 1950 – Barbara McIlvaine Smith, Sac and Fox Nation Native American politician +1951 – Martin Bayerle, American treasure hunter +1952 – Narada Michael Walden, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer +1953 – James Russo, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter +1954 – Stephen Dalton, English air marshal + 1954 – Michael Moore, American director, producer, and activist +1955 – Judy Davis, Australian actress + 1955 – Tony Miles, English chess player (d. 2001) + 1955 – Urmas Ott, Estonian journalist and author (d. 2008) +1957 – Neville Brody, English graphic designer, typographer, and art director + 1957 – Jan Hooks, American actress and comedian (d. 2014) +1958 – Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Icelandic composer and producer + 1958 – Ryan Walter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach +1959 – Unity Dow, Botswanan judge, author, and rights activist +1960 – Valerie Bertinelli, American actress + 1960 – Steve Clark, English guitarist and songwriter (d. 1991) + 1960 – Barry Douglas, Irish pianist and conductor + 1960 – Léo Jaime, Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor + 1960 – Claude Julien, Canadian ice hockey player and coach +1961 – George Lopez, American comedian, actor, and talk show host + 1961 – Pierluigi Martini, Italian race car driver +1962 – John Hannah, Scottish actor and producer + 1962 – Shaun Spiers, English businessman and politician +1963 – Paul Belmondo, French race car driver + 1963 – Robby Naish, American windsurfer +1964 – Gianandrea Noseda, Italian pianist and conductor +1965 – Leni Robredo, Filipina human rights lawyer, 14th Vice President of the Philippines +1966 – Jörg Deisinger, German bass player + 1966 – Matt Freeman, American bass player + 1966 – Lembit Oll, Estonian chess Grandmaster (d. 1999) +1967 – Rhéal Cormier, Canadian baseball player (d. 2021) + 1967 – Melina Kanakaredes, American actress +1968 – Bas Haring, Dutch philosopher, writer, television presenter and professor. + 1968 – Ken McRae, Canadian ice hockey player and coach + 1968 – Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist, Oklahoma City bombing co-perpetrator (d. 2001) +1969 – Martín López-Zubero, American-Spanish swimmer and coach + 1969 – Yelena Shushunova, Russian gymnast +1970 – Egemen Bağış, Turkish politician, 1st Minister of European Union Affairs + 1970 – Dennis Culp, American singer-songwriter and trombonist + 1970 – Andrew Gee, Australian rugby league player and manager + 1970 – Hans Välimäki, Finnish chef and author + 1970 – Tayfur Havutçu, Turkish international footballer and manager +1971 – Uli Herzner, German-American fashion designer +1972 – Pierre Labrie, Canadian poet and playwright + 1972 – Peter Dench, English photographer and journalist + 1972 – Amira Medunjanin, Bosnian singer +1973 – Patrick Poulin, Canadian ice hockey player +1974 – Carlos Dengler, American bass player + 1974 – Michael Kerr, New Zealand-German rugby player +1975 – Bobby Shaw, American football player +1976 – Gabriel Damon, American actor + 1976 – Aaron Dessner, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer +1977 – John Cena, American professional wrestler and actor + 1977 – Andruw Jones, Curaçaoan baseball player + 1977 – David Kidwell, New Zealand rugby league player and coach + 1977 – Willie Mitchell, Canadian ice hockey player + 1977 – John Oliver, English comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter + 1977 – Kal Penn, Indian-American actor + 1977 – Bram Schmitz, Dutch cyclist + 1977 – Lee Young-pyo, South Korean international footballer +1978 – Gezahegne Abera, Ethiopian runner +1979 – Barry Hawkins, English snooker player + 1979 – Jaime King, American actress and model + 1979 – Joanna Krupa, Polish-American model and television personality + 1979 – Samppa Lajunen, Finnish skier +1980 – Nicole den Dulk, Dutch Paralympic equestrian +1982 – Kyle Beckerman, American footballer + 1982 – Tony Sunshine, American singer-songwriter +1983 – Leon Andreasen, Danish international footballer + 1983 – Daniela Hantuchová, Slovak tennis player + 1983 – Ian Henderson, English rugby league player +1984 – Alexandra Kosteniuk, Russian chess player + 1984 – Moose, American professional wrestler and football player + 1984 – Jesse Lee Soffer, American actor +1985 – Angel Locsin, Filipino actress, producer, and fashion designer +1986 – Sven Kramer, Dutch speed skater + 1986 – Alysia Montaño, American runner + 1986 – Rafael Fernandes, Brazilian baseball player +1987 – Michael Arroyo, Ecuadorian footballer + 1987 – John Boye, Ghanaian footballer + 1987 – Emily Fox, American basketball player +1988 – Victor Anichebe, Nigerian footballer + 1988 – Alistair Brownlee, English triathlete + 1988 – Signe Ronka, Canadian figure skater + 1988 – Lenka Wienerová, Slovak tennis player +1989 – Nicole Vaidišová, Czech tennis player +1990 – Rui Fonte, Portuguese footballer + 1990 – Dev Patel, English actor +1991 – Britt Baker, American professional wrestler + 1991 – Nathan Baker, English footballer + 1991 – Caleb Johnson, American singer-songwriter + 1991 – Paul Vaughan, Australian-Italian rugby league player +1994 – Patrick Olsen, Danish footballer + 1994 – Song Kang, South Korean actor +1995 – Gigi Hadid, American fashion model and television personality + 1995 – Jamie Hayter, English professional wrestler +1996 – Carolina Alves, Brazilian tennis player +1997 – Zach Apple, American swimmer +1999 – Son Chaeyoung, South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter +2000 – Chloe Kim, American snowboarder +2018 – Prince Louis of Wales + +Deaths + +Pre-1600 +AD 303 – Saint George, Roman soldier and martyr +711 – Childebert III, Frankish king (b. 670) + 725 – Wihtred of Kent + 871 – Æthelred of Wessex (b. 837) + 915 – Yang Shihou, Chinese general + 944 – Wichmann the Elder, Saxon nobleman + 990 – Ekkehard II, Swiss monk and abbot + 997 – Adalbert of Prague, Czech bishop, missionary, and saint (b. 956) +1014 – Brian Boru, Irish king (b. 941) +1014 – Domnall mac Eimín, Mormaer of Mar +1016 – Æthelred the Unready, English son of Edgar the Peaceful (b. 968) +1124 – Alexander I of Scotland (b. 1078) +1151 – Adeliza of Louvain (b. 1103) +1170 – Minamoto no Tametomo, Japanese samurai (b. 1139) +1196 – Béla III of Hungary (b. ) +1200 – Zhu Xi, Chinese philosopher (b. 1130) +1217 – Inge II of Norway (b. 1185) +1262 – Aegidius of Assisi, companion of Saint Francis of Assisi +1307 – Joan of Acre (b. 1272) +1400 – Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford, English politician and nobleman (b. c. 1338) +1407 – Olivier de Clisson, French soldier (b. 1326) +1501 – Domenico della Rovere, Catholic cardinal (b. 1442) +1554 – Gaspara Stampa, Italian poet (b. 1523) + +1601–1900 +1605 – Boris Godunov, Russian ruler (b. 1551) +1616 – William Shakespeare, English playwright and poet (b. 1564) + 1616 – Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Spanish writer and historian (b. 1539) + +1625 – Maurice, Prince of Orange (b. 1567) +1695 – Henry Vaughan, Welsh poet and author (b. 1621) +1702 – Margaret Fell, English religious leader, founded the Religious Society of Friends (b. 1614) +1781 – James Abercrombie, Scottish general and politician (b. 1706) +1784 – Solomon I of Imereti (b. 1735) +1792 – Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, German theologian and author (b. 1741) +1794 – Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, French lawyer and politician (b. 1721) +1827 – Georgios Karaiskakis, Greek general (b. 1780) +1839 – Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin, French admiral and explorer (b. 1768) +1850 – William Wordsworth, English poet and author (b. 1770) +1865 – Silas Soule, American soldier and whistleblower of the Sand Creek Massacre (b. 1838) +1889 – Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly, French author and critic (b. 1808) +1895 – Carl Ludwig, German physician and physiologist (b. 1815) + +1901–present +1905 – Gédéon Ouimet, Canadian politician, 2nd Premier of Quebec (b. 1823) +1907 – Alferd Packer, American prospector (b. 1842) +1915 – Rupert Brooke, English poet (b. 1887) +1936 – Teresa de la Parra, French-Venezuelan author (b. 1889) +1951 – Jules Berry, French actor and director (b. 1883) + 1951 – Charles G. Dawes, American banker and politician, 30th Vice President of the United States, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1865) +1959 – Bak Jungyang, Korean politician +1965 – George Adamski, Polish-American ufologist and author (b. 1891) +1966 – George Ohsawa, Japanese founder of the Macrobiotic diet (b. 1893) +1981 – Josep Pla, Catalan journalist and author (b. 1897) +1983 – Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (b. 1908) +1984 – Red Garland, American pianist (b. 1923) +1985 – Sam Ervin, American lawyer and politician (b. 1896) + 1985 – Frank Farrell, Australian rugby league player and policeman (b. 1916) +1986 – Harold Arlen, American composer (b. 1905) + 1986 – Jim Laker, English international cricketer and sportscaster; holder of world record for most wickets taken in a match (b. 1922) + 1986 – Otto Preminger, Ukrainian-American actor, director, and producer (b. 1906) +1990 – Paulette Goddard, American actress (b. 1910) +1991 – Johnny Thunders, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1952) +1992 – Satyajit Ray, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921) + 1992 – Tanka Prasad Acharya, Nepalese politician, 27th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1912) +1993 – Cesar Chavez, American activist, co-founded the United Farm Workers (b. 1927) +1995 – Douglas Lloyd Campbell, Canadian farmer and politician, 13th Premier of Manitoba (b. 1895) + 1995 – Howard Cosell, American lawyer and journalist (b. 1918) + 1995 – Riho Lahi, Estonian journalist (b. 1904) + 1995 – John C. Stennis, American lawyer and politician (b. 1904) +1996 – Jean Victor Allard, Canadian general (b. 1913) + 1996 – P. L. Travers, Australian-English author and actress (b. 1899) +1997 – Denis Compton, English cricketer and footballer (b. 1918) +1998 – Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek lawyer and politician, 172nd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1907) + 1998 – James Earl Ray, American assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. (b. 1928) + 1998 – Thanassis Skordalos, Greek singer-songwriter and lyra player (b. 1920) +2003 – Fernand Fonssagrives, French-American photographer (b. 1910) +2004 – Herman Veenstra, Dutch water polo player (b. 1911) +2005 – Joh Bjelke-Petersen, New Zealand-Australian politician, 31st Premier of Queensland (b. 1911) + 2005 – Robert Farnon, Canadian-English trumpet player, composer and conductor (b. 1917) + 2005 – Al Grassby, Australian journalist and politician (b. 1928) + 2005 – John Mills, English actor (b. 1908) + 2005 – Romano Scarpa, Italian author and illustrator (b. 1927) + 2005 – Earl Wilson, American baseball player, coach and educator (b. 1934) + 2006 – Phil Walden, American record producer and manager, co-founder of Capricorn Records (b. 1940) +2007 – Paul Erdman, Canadian-American economist and author (b. 1932) + 2007 – David Halberstam, American journalist, historian and author (b. 1934) + 2007 – Peter Randall, English sergeant (b. 1930) + 2007 – Boris Yeltsin, Russian politician, 1st President of Russia (b. 1931) +2010 – Peter Porter, Australian-born British poet (b. 1929) +2011 – James Casey, English comedian, radio scriptwriter and producer (b. 1922) + 2011 – Tom King, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1943) + 2011 – Geoffrey Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill, English businessman and politician (b. 1921) + 2011 – Max van der Stoel, Dutch politician and Minister of State (b. 1924) + 2011 – John Sullivan, English screenwriter and producer (b. 1946) +2012 – Lillemor Arvidsson, Swedish trade union leader and politician, 34th Governor of Gotland (b. 1943) + 2012 – Billy Bryans, Canadian drummer, songwriter and producer (b. 1947) + 2012 – Chris Ethridge, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1947) + 2012 – Raymond Thorsteinsson, Canadian geologist and paleontologist (b. 1921) + 2012 – LeRoy T. Walker, American football player and coach (b. 1918) +2013 – Bob Brozman, American guitarist (b. 1954) + 2013 – Robert W. Edgar, American educator and politician (b. 1943) + 2013 – Tony Grealish, English footballer (b. 1956) + 2013 – Antonio Maccanico, Italian banker and politician (b. 1924) + 2013 – Frank W. J. Olver, English-American mathematician and academic (b. 1924) + 2013 – Kathryn Wasserman Davis, American philanthropist and scholar (b. 1907) +2014 – Benjamín Brea, Spanish-Venezuelan saxophonist, clarinet player, and conductor (b. 1946) + 2014 – Michael Glawogger, Austrian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer (b. 1959) + 2014 – Jaap Havekotte, Dutch speed skater and producer of ice skates (b. 1912) + 2014 – Connie Marrero, Cuban baseball player and coach (b. 1911) + 2014 – F. Michael Rogers, American general (b. 1921) + 2014 – Mark Shand, English conservationist and author (b. 1951) + 2014 – Patric Standford, English composer and educator (b. 1939) +2015 – Richard Corliss, American journalist and critic (b. 1944) + 2015 – Ray Jackson, Australian activist (b. 1941) + 2015 – Pierre Claude Nolin, Canadian lawyer and politician, Speaker of the Canadian Senate (b. 1950) + 2015 – Jim Steffen, American football player (b. 1936) + 2015 – Francis Tsai, American author and illustrator (b. 1967) +2016 – Inge King, German-born Australian sculptor (b. 1915) + 2016 – Banharn Silpa-archa, Thai politician, Prime Minister from 1995 to 1996 (b. 1932) +2019 – Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick, American soprano singer and presenter (b. 1983) + 2019 – Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (b. 1921) +2021 – Dan Kaminsky, American internet security researcher (b. 1979) +2022 – Orrin Hatch, American politician, President pro tempore of the United States Senate (b. 1934) + +Holidays and observances + Christian feast day: +Adalbert of Prague +Felix, Fortunatus, and Achilleus +Saint George +Blessed Giles of Assisi +Gerard of Toul +Ibar of Beggerin (Meath) +Toyohiko Kagawa (Episcopal and Lutheran Church) +St George's Day (England) and its related observances: +La Diada de Sant Jordi (Catalonia, Spain) +April 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) +Canada Book Day (Canada) +Castile and León Day (Castile and León) +Independence Day (Conch Republic, Key West, Florida) +International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day +Khongjom Day (Manipur) +National Sovereignty and Children's Day (Turkey and Northern Cyprus) +Navy Day (China) +World Book Day +UN English Language Day (United Nations) +UN Spanish Language Day (United Nations) + +References + +Bibliography + +External links + + BBC: On This Day + + Historical Events on April 23 + +Days of the year +April +Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Srivastava; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician, who works in Hindi cinema. In a film career spanning over five decades, he has starred in more than 200 films. Bachchan is widely regarded as one of the most successful and influential actors in the history of Indian cinema. He is referred to as the Shahenshah of Bollywood, Sadi Ke Mahanayak (Hindi for, "Greatest actor of the century"), Star of the Millennium, or Big B. His dominance in the Indian movie scenario during the 1970s80s made the French director François Truffaut call it a "one-man industry". + +Bachchan was born in 1942 in Allahabad (now Prayagraj) to the Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and his wife, the social activist Teji Bachchan. He was educated at Sherwood College, Nainital, and Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi. His film career started in 1969 as a voice narrator in Mrinal Sen's film Bhuvan Shome. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s for films such as Anand, Zanjeer, Roti Kapada Aur Makaan, Deewaar and Sholay, and achieved greater stardom in later years, dubbed India's "angry young man" for several of his on-screen roles in Hindi films. He consistently starred in top grossing Indian films with critical acclaim since mid 1970s to 80s, such as Amar Akbar Anthony, Don, Trishul, Muqaddar Ka Sikander, Suhaag, Dostana, Naseeb, Laawaris, Kaalia, Namak Halaal, Coolie, Sharaabi and Mard, as well as some of his most acclaimed performances include Namak Haraam, Abhimaan, Majboor, Mili, Chupke Chupke, Kabhi Kabhie, Kaala Patthar, Shaan, Silsila, Shakti, Shahenshah and Agneepath. After taking break from acting in 1990s, his resurgence marked in 2000 with Mohabbatein. Since then he starred in several successful and acclaimed films such as Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Aankhen, Baghban, Black, Bunty Aur Babli, Sarkar, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Cheeni Kum, Paa, Piku, Pink and Badla. For Piku, he won his fourth National Film Award for Best Actor, making him the only actor to do so. Bachchan also made an appearance in a Hollywood film, The Great Gatsby (2013), in which he played a non-Indian Jewish character. + +He has won numerous accolades in his career, including record four National Film Awards in Best Actor category and many awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies. He has won sixteen Filmfare Awards and is the most nominated performer in any major acting category at Filmfare with 34 nominations in Best Actor and 42 nominations overall. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 1984, the Padma Bhushan in 2001, the Padma Vibhushan in 2015 and India's highest award in the field of cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2018 for his contributions to the arts. The Government of France honoured him with its highest civilian honour, Knight of the Legion of honour, in 2007 for his exceptional career in the world of cinema and beyond. + +In addition to acting, Bachchan has worked as a playback singer, film producer and television presenter. He has hosted several seasons of the game show Kaun Banega Crorepati, India's version of the game show franchise, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. He also entered politics for a time in the 1980s. Bachchan has also been involved in several humanitarian works and he is a leading brand endorser in India. Beyond the Indian subcontinent, he acquired a large overseas following of the South Asian diaspora, as well as others, in markets including Africa (South Africa, Eastern Africa and Mauritius), the Middle East (especially UAE and Egypt), the United Kingdom, Russia, Central Asia, the Caribbean (Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago), Oceania (Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand), Canada and the United States. Bachchan was voted the "greatest star of stage or screen" by BBC Your Millennium online poll in 1999. In October 2003, TIME magazine dubbed Bachchan the "Star of the Millennium". + +Early life and family + +Bachchan was born on 11 October 1942 in Allahabad (now Prayagraj) to the Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, and social activist Teji Bachchan. Harivansh Rai Bachchan was an Awadhi Hindu Kayastha, who was fluent in Awadhi, Hindi and Urdu. Harivansh's ancestors came from a village called Babupatti, in the Raniganj tehsil, in the Pratapgarh district, in the present-day state of Uttar Pradesh, in India. Teji Bachchan was a Punjabi Sikh Khatri from Lyallpur, Punjab, British India (present-day Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan). Bachchan has a younger brother, Ajitabh who is 5 years younger than him. + +Bachchan's parents were initially going to name him Inquilaab (Hindustani for "Revolution"), inspired by the phrase Inquilab Zindabad (which translates into English as "Long live the revolution") popularly used during the Indian independence struggle; the name Amitabh was suggested to his father by poet Sumitranandan Pant. Although his surname was Shrivastava, Amitabh's father, who opposed the caste system, had adopted the pen name Bachchan ("child-like" in colloquial Hindi), under which he published all of his works. When his father was looking to get him admitted to a school, he and Bachchan's mother decided the family's name should be Bachchan instead of Shrivastava. It is with this last name that Amitabh debuted in films and used for all other practical purposes, Bachchan has become the surname for all of his immediate family. Bachchan's father died in 2003, and his mother in 2007. + +Bachchan's secondary education was at Boys' High School & College in Allahabad and Sherwood College in Nainital. He attended Kirori Mal College at the University of Delhi in Delhi. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Kirori Mal College in 1962. When Bachchan finished his studies his father approached Prithviraj Kapoor, the founder of Prithvi Theatre and patriarch of the Kapoor acting family, to see if there was an opening for him, but Kapoor offered no encouragement. Bachchan was a friend of Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi, before he became an actor. He used to spend time with them when he was a resident in New Delhi. Bachchan's family were very close to the Nehru-Gandhi family of politicians. When Sonia Gandhi first came to India from Italy before her marriage, Bachchan had received her at the Palam International Airport on 13 January 1968. She spent 48 days at Bachchan's house with his parents before her marriage to Rajiv. + +Bachchan applied for a role as a newsreader for All India Radio, Delhi but "failed the audition". He became a business executive for Bird & Company in Kolkata (Calcutta), and worked in the theatre before starting his film career. It is thought that his mother might have had some influence in Amitabh Bachchan's choice of career because she always insisted that he should "take centre stage". + +Acting career + +Early career (1969–1972) +Bachchan made his film debut in 1969, as a voice narrator in Mrinal Sen's National Award-winning film Bhuvan Shome. His first acting role was as one of the seven protagonists in the film Saat Hindustani, directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and featuring Utpal Dutt, Anwar Ali (brother of comedian Mehmood), Madhu and Jalal Agha. + +Anand (1971) followed, in which Bachchan starred alongside Rajesh Khanna. His role as a doctor with a cynical view of life garnered Bachchan his first Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. He then played his first antagonist role as an infatuated lover-turned-murderer in Parwana (1971). Following Parwana were several films including Reshma Aur Shera (1971). During this time, he made a guest appearance in the film Guddi which starred his future wife Jaya Bhaduri. He narrated part of the film Bawarchi. In 1972, he made an appearance in the road action comedy Bombay to Goa directed by S. Ramanathan which was moderately successful. Many of Bachchan's films during this early period did not do well. His only film with Mala Sinha, Sanjog (1972) was also a box office failure. + +Rise to stardom (1973–1974) + +Bachchan was struggling, seen as a "failed newcomer" who, by the age of 30, had twelve flops and only two hits (as a lead in Bombay to Goa and supporting role in Anand). He was offered with a dual role movie by the director O.P Goyle, and writer O.P Ralhan for the film Bandhe Hath in 1973. This was Bachchan's first movie where he had played double role. Bachchan was soon discovered by screenwriter duo Salim–Javed, consisting of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar. Salim Khan wrote the story, screenplay and script of Zanjeer (1973), and conceived the "angry young man" persona of the lead role. Javed Akhtar came on board as co-writer, and Prakash Mehra, who saw the script as potentially groundbreaking, as the film's director. However, they were struggling to find an actor for the lead "angry young man" role; it was turned down by a number of actors, owing to it going against the "romantic hero" image dominant in the industry at the time. Salim-Javed soon discovered Bachchan and "saw his talent, which most makers didn't. He was exceptional, a genius actor who was in films that weren't good." According to Salim Khan, they "strongly felt that Amitabh was the ideal casting for Zanjeer". Salim Khan introduced Bachchan to Prakash Mehra, and Salim-Javed insisted that Bachchan be cast for the role. + +Zanjeer was a crime film with violent action, in sharp contrast to the romantically themed films that had generally preceded it, and it established Amitabh in a new persona—the "angry young man" of Bollywood cinema. He earned his first Filmfare Award nomination for Best Actor, with Filmfare later considering this one of the most iconic performances of Bollywood history. The film was a huge success and one of the highest-grossing films of that year, breaking Bachchan's dry spell at the box office and making him a star. It was the first of many collaborations between Salim-Javed and Amitabh Bachchan; Salim-Javed wrote many of their subsequent scripts with Bachchan in mind for the lead role, and insisted on him being cast for their later films, including blockbusters such as Deewaar (1975) and Sholay (1975). Salim Khan also introduced Bachchan to director Manmohan Desai with whom he formed a long and successful association, alongside Prakash Mehra and Yash Chopra. + +Eventually, Bachchan became one of the most successful leading men of the film industry. Bachchan's portrayal of the wronged hero fighting a crooked system and circumstances of deprivation in films like Zanjeer, Deewaar, Trishul, Kaala Patthar and Shakti resonated with the masses of the time, especially the youth who harboured a simmering discontent owing to social ills such as poverty, hunger, unemployment, corruption, social inequality and the brutal excesses of The Emergency. This led to Bachchan being dubbed as the "angry young man", a journalistic catchphrase which became a metaphor for the dormant rage, frustration, restlessness, sense of rebellion and anti-establishment disposition of an entire generation, prevalent in 1970s India. + +The year 1973 was also when he married Jaya, and around this time they appeared in several films together: not only Zanjeer but also subsequent films such as Abhimaan, which was released only a month after their marriage and was also successful at the box office. Later, Bachchan played the role of Vikram, once again along with Rajesh Khanna, in the film Namak Haraam, a social drama directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and scripted by Biresh Chatterjee addressing themes of friendship. His supporting role won him his second Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. + +In 1974, Bachchan made several guest appearances in films such as Kunwara Baap and Dost, before playing a supporting role in Roti Kapda Aur Makaan. The film, directed and written by Manoj Kumar, addressed themes of honesty in the face of oppression and financial and emotional hardship and was the top-earning film of 1974. Bachchan then played the leading role in the film Majboor. The film was a success at the box office. + +Superstardom (1975–1988) +In 1975, he starred in a variety of film genres, from the comedy Chupke Chupke and the crime drama Faraar to the romantic drama Mili. This was also the year in which Bachchan starred in two films regarded as important in Hindi cinema history, both written by Salim-Javed, who again insisted on casting Bachchan. The first was Deewaar, directed by Yash Chopra, where he worked with Shashi Kapoor, Nirupa Roy, Parveen Babi, and Neetu Singh, and earned another Filmfare nomination for Best Actor. The film became a major hit at the box office in 1975, ranking in at number four. Indiatimes Movies ranks Deewaar amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films. The other, released on 15 August 1975, was Sholay, which became the highest-grossing film ever in India at the time, in which Bachchan played the role of Jaidev. Deewaar and Sholay are often credited with exalting Bachchan to the heights of superstardom, two years after he became a star with Zanjeer, and consolidating his domination of the industry throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In 1999, BBC India declared Sholay the "Film of the Millennium" and, like Deewaar, it has been cited by Indiatimes Movies as amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films. In that same year, the judges of the 50th annual Filmfare Awards awarded it with the special distinction award called the Filmfare Best Film of 50 Years. + +In 1976, he was cast by Yash Chopra in the romantic family drama Kabhie Kabhie. Bachchan starred as a young poet, Amit Malhotra, who falls deeply in love with a beautiful young girl named Pooja (Rakhee Gulzar) who ends up marrying someone else (Shashi Kapoor). The film was notable for portraying Bachchan as a romantic hero, a far cry from his "angry young man" roles like Zanjeer and Deewaar. The film evoked a favourable response from critics and audiences alike. Bachchan was again nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor Award for his role in the film. That same year he played a double role in the hit Adalat as father and son. In 1977, he won his first Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in Amar Akbar Anthony, in which he played the third lead opposite Vinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor as Anthony Gonsalves. The film was the highest-grossing film of that year. His other successes that year include Parvarish and Khoon Pasina. + +He once again resumed double roles in films such as Kasme Vaade (1978) as Amit and Shankar and Don (1978) playing the characters of Don, a leader of an underworld gang and his look-alike Vijay. His performance won him his second Filmfare Best Actor Award. He also gave towering performances in Yash Chopra's Trishul and Prakash Mehra's Muqaddar Ka Sikandar both of which earned him further Filmfare Best Actor nominations. 1978 is arguably considered his most successful year at the box office since all of his six releases the same year, namely Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Trishul, Don, Kasme Vaade, Ganga Ki Saugandh and Besharam were massive successes, the former three being the consecutive highest-grossing films of the year, a rare feat in Indian cinema. + +In 1979, Bachchan starred in Suhaag which was the highest earning film of that year. In the same year he also enjoyed critical acclaim and commercial success with films like Mr. Natwarlal, Kaala Patthar, The Great Gambler and Manzil. Amitabh was required to use his singing voice for the first time in a song from the film Mr. Natwarlal in which he starred with Rekha. Bachchan's performance in the film saw him nominated for both the Filmfare Award for Best Actor and the Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer. He also received Best Actor nomination for Kaala Patthar and then went on to be nominated again in 1980 for the Raj Khosla directed film Dostana, in which he starred opposite Shatrughan Sinha and Zeenat Aman. Dostana proved to be the top-grossing film of 1980. In 1981, he starred in Yash Chopra's melodrama film Silsila, where he starred alongside his wife Jaya and also Rekha. Other successful films of this period include Shaan (1980), Ram Balram (1980), Naseeb (1981), Lawaaris (1981), Kaalia (1981), Yaarana (1981), Barsaat Ki Ek Raat (1981) and Shakti (1982), also starring Dilip Kumar. + +In 1982, he played double roles in the musical Satte Pe Satta and action drama Desh Premee which succeeded at the box office along with mega hits like action comedy Namak Halaal, action drama Khud-Daar and the critically acclaimed drama Bemisal. In 1983, he played a triple role in Mahaan which was not as successful as his previous films. Other releases during that year included Nastik and Pukar which were hits and Andha Kanoon (in which he had an extended guest appearance) was a blockbuster. During a stint in politics from 1984 to 1987, his completed films Mard (1985) and Geraftaar (1985) were released and were major hits. Bachchan had played a role in a special appearance for the film Kaun Jeeta Kaun Haara in the year 1987 and he sang a playback song with Kishore Kumar in this movie. + +Coolie incident + +On 26 July 1982, while filming a fight scene with co-actor Puneet Issar for Coolie, Bachchan had near-fatal intestinal injury. Bachchan was performing his own stunts in the film and one scene required him to fall onto a table and then on the ground. However, as he jumped towards the table, the corner of the table struck his abdomen, resulting in a splenic rupture from which he lost a significant amount of blood. He required an emergency splenectomy and remained critically ill in hospital for many months, at times close to death. There were long queues of well-wishing fans outside the hospital where he was recuperating; the public response included prayers in places of worship and offers to sacrifice limbs to save him. Nevertheless, he resumed filming later that year after a long period of recuperation. The director, Manmohan Desai, altered the ending of Coolie: Bachchan's character was originally intended to have been killed off; but, after the change of script, the character lived in the end. Desai felt it would have been inappropriate for the man who had just fended off death in real life to be killed on screen. The footage of the fight scene is frozen at the critical moment, and a caption appears onscreen marking it as the instant of the actor's injury. The film was released in 1983, and partly due to the huge publicity of Bachchan's accident, the film was a box office success and the top-grossing film of that year. + +Health issues + +Later, he was diagnosed with Myasthenia gravis. His illness made him feel weak both mentally and physically and he decided to quit films and venture into politics. At this time he became pessimistic, expressing concern with how a new film would be received, and stating before every release, "Yeh film to flop hogi!" ("This film will flop"). + +Career fluctuations and sabbatical (1988–1992) +After a three-year stint in politics from 1984 to 1987, Bachchan returned to films in 1988, playing the title role in Shahenshah, which was a box office success. After the success of his comeback film however, his star power began to wane as all of his subsequent films like Jaadugar, Toofan and Main Azaad Hoon (all released in 1989) failed at the box office. He gained success during this period with the crime drama Aaj Ka Arjun (1990) and action crime drama Hum (1991), for which he won his third Filmfare Best Actor Award, but this momentum was short-lived and his string of box office failures continued. Notably, despite the lack of hits, it was during this era that Bachchan won his first National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance as a Mafia don in the 1990 cult film Agneepath. These years would see his last on-screen appearances for some time. After the release of the critically acclaimed epic Khuda Gawah in 1992, Bachchan went into semi-retirement for five years. With the exception of the delayed release of Insaniyat (1994), which was also a box office failure, Bachchan did not appear in any new releases for five years. + +Business ventures and acting comeback (1996–1999) +Bachchan turned producer during his temporary retirement period, setting up Amitabh Bachchan Corporation, Ltd. (ABCL) in 1996. ABCL's strategy was to introduce products and services covering an entire cross-section of India's entertainment industry. ABCL's operations were mainstream commercial film production and distribution, audio cassettes and video discs, production and marketing of television software, and celebrity and event management. Soon after the company was launched in 1996, the first film it produced was Tere Mere Sapne, which was a box office hit and launched the careers of actors like Arshad Warsi and southern film star Simran. + +In 1997, Bachchan attempted to make his acting comeback with the film Mrityudata, produced by ABCL. Though Mrityudaata attempted to reprise Bachchan's earlier success as an action hero, the film was a failure both financially and critically. ABCL was the main sponsor of the 1996 Miss World beauty pageant, Bangalore, but lost millions. The fiasco and the consequent legal battles surrounding ABCL and various entities after the event, coupled with the fact that ABCL was reported to have overpaid most of its top-level managers, eventually led to its financial and operational collapse in 1997. The company went into administration and was later declared a failed company by the Indian Industries board. The Bombay high court, in April 1999, restrained Bachchan from selling off his Bombay bungalow 'Prateeksha' and two flats until the pending loan recovery cases of Canara Bank were disposed of. Bachchan had, however, pleaded that he had mortgaged his bungalow to raise funds for his company. + +Bachchan attempted to revive his acting career, and eventually had commercial success with Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998) and Major Saab (1998), and received positive reviews for Sooryavansham (1999), but other films such as Lal Baadshah (1999) and Kohram (1999) were box office failures. + +Return to prominence (2000–present) +In 2000, Bachchan appeared in Yash Chopra's box-office hit, Mohabbatein, directed by Aditya Chopra. He played a stern, elder figure who rivalled the character of Shahrukh Khan. His role won him his third Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. Other hits followed, with Bachchan appearing as an older family patriarch in Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love (2001), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001) and Baghban (2003). As an actor, he continued to perform in a range of characters, receiving critical praise for his performances in Aks (2001), Aankhen (2002), Kaante (2002), Khakee (2004), Dev (2004) and Veer-Zaara (2004). His performance in Aks won him his first Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. + +One project that did particularly well for Bachchan was Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black (2005). The film starred Bachchan as an ageing teacher of a deaf-blind girl and followed their relationship. His performance was unanimously praised by critics and audiences and won him his second National Film Award for Best Actor, his fourth Filmfare Best Actor Award and his second Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. Taking advantage of this resurgence, Amitabh began endorsing a variety of products and services, appearing in many television and billboard advertisements. In 2005 and 2006, he starred with his son Abhishek in the films Bunty Aur Babli (2005), the Godfather tribute Sarkar (2005), and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006). All of them were successful at the box office. His later releases in 2006 and early 2007 were Baabul (2006), Ekalavya (2007) and Nishabd (2007), which failed to do well at the box office but his performances in each of them were praised by critics. + +In May 2007, two of his films: the romantic comedy Cheeni Kum and the multi-starrer action drama Shootout at Lokhandwala were released. Shootout at Lokhandwala did well at the box office and was declared a hit in India, while Cheeni Kum picked up after a slow start and was a success. A remake of his biggest hit, Sholay (1975), entitled Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, released in August of that same year and proved to be a major commercial failure in addition to its poor critical reception. The year also marked Bachchan's first appearance in an English-language film, Rituparno Ghosh's The Last Lear, co-starring Arjun Rampal and Preity Zinta. The film premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2007. He received positive reviews from critics who hailed his performance as his best ever since Black. Bachchan was slated to play a supporting role in his first international film, Shantaram, directed by Mira Nair and starring Hollywood actor Johnny Depp in the lead. The film was due to begin filming in February 2008 but due to the writer's strike, was pushed to September 2008. The film is currently "shelved" indefinitely. + +Vivek Sharma's Bhoothnath, in which he plays the title role as a ghost, was released on 9 May 2008. Sarkar Raj, the sequel of the 2005 film Sarkar, released in June 2008 and received a positive response at the box office. Paa, which released at the end of 2009 was a highly anticipated project as it saw him playing his own son Abhishek's Progeria-affected 13-year-old son, and it opened to favourable reviews, particularly towards Bachchan's performance and was one of the top-grossing films of 2009. It won him his third National Film Award for Best Actor and fifth Filmfare Best Actor Award. In 2010, he debuted in Malayalam film through Kandahar, directed by Major Ravi and co-starring Mohanlal. The film was based on the hijacking incident of the Indian Airlines Flight 814. Bachchan declined any remuneration for this film. In 2011 he played an aged retired former gangster in Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap who protects his son Sonu Sood who is an honest daring police officer from a notorious gangster Prakash Raj who unknowingly hired the latter to perform a contract killing not knowing that the police officer is the gangster's son. Directed By Puri Jagannadh the film won positive reviews and was a commercial success. +In 2013, he made his Hollywood debut in The Great Gatsby making a special appearance opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. In 2014, he played the role of the friendly ghost in the sequel Bhoothnath Returns. The next year, he played the role of a grumpy father experiencing chronic constipation in the critically acclaimed Piku which was also one of the biggest hits of 2015. A review in Daily News and Analysis (DNA) summarised Bachchan's performance as "The heart and soul of Piku clearly belong to Amitabh Bachchan who is in his elements. His performance in Piku, without doubt, finds a place among the top 10 in his illustrious career." Rachel Saltz wrote for The New York Times, "Piku", an offbeat Hindi comedy, would have you contemplate the intestines and mortality of one Bhashkor Banerji and the actor who plays him, Amitabh Bachchan. Bhashkor's life and conversation may revolve around his constipation and fussy hypochondria, but there's no mistaking the scene-stealing energy that Mr. Bachchan, India's erstwhile Angry Young Man, musters for his new role of Cranky Old Man." Well known Indian critic Rajeev Masand wrote on his website, "Bachchan is pretty terrific as Bhashkor, who reminds you of that oddball uncle that you nevertheless have a soft spot for. He bickers with the maids, harrows his hapless helper, and expects that Piku stay unmarried so she can attend to him. At one point, to ward off a possible suitor, he casually mentions that his daughter isn't a virgin; that she's financially independent and sexually independent too. Bachchan embraces the character's many idiosyncrasies, never once slipping into caricature while all along delivering big laughs thanks to his spot-on comic timing." The Guardian summed up, "Bachchan seizes upon his cranky character part, making Bashkor as garrulously funny in his theories on caste and marriage as his system is backed-up." The performance won Bachchan his fourth National Film Award for Best Actor and his third Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. + +In 2016, he appeared in the women-centric courtroom drama film Pink which was highly praised by critics and with an increasingly good word of mouth, was a resounding success at the domestic and overseas box office. Bachchan's performance in the film received acclaim. According to Raja Sen of Rediff.com, "Amitabh Bachchan, a retired lawyer with bipolar disorder, takes up cudgels on behalf of the girls, delivering courtroom blows with pugilistic grace. Like we know from Prakash Mehra movies, into each life some Bachchan must fall. The girls hang on to him with incredulous desperation, and he bats for them with all he has. At one point Meenal hangs by Bachchan's elbow, words entirely unnecessary. Bachchan towers through Pink – the way he bellows "et cetera" is alone worth having the heavy-hitter at play—but there are softer moments like one where he appears to have dozed off in court, or where he lays his head by his convalescent wife's bedside and needs his hair ruffled and his conviction validated." Writing for Hindustan Times, noted film critic and author Anupama Chopra said of Bachchan's performance, "A special salute to Amitabh Bachchan, who imbues his character with a tragic majesty. Bachchan towers in every sense, but without a hint of showboating. Meena Iyer of The Times of India wrote, "The performances are pitch-perfect with Bachchan leading the way. Writing for NDTV, Troy Ribeiro of Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) stated, 'Amitabh Bachchan as Deepak Sehgall, the aged defence lawyer, shines as always, in a restrained, but powerful performance. His histrionics come primarily in the form of his well-modulated baritone, conveying his emotions and of course, from the well-written lines.' Mike McCahill of The Guardian remarked, "Among an electric ensemble, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Andrea Tariang give unwavering voice to the girls' struggles; Amitabh Bachchan brings his moral authority to bear as their sole legal ally. + +In 2017, he appeared in the third instalment of the Sarkar film series: Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar 3. That year, he started filming for the swashbuckling action adventure film Thugs of Hindostan with Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif and Fatima Sana Shaikh which released in November 2018. He co-starred with Rishi Kapoor in 102 Not Out, a comedy drama film directed by Umesh Shukla based on a Gujarati play of the same name written by Saumya Joshi. This film released in May 2018 and reunited him with Kapoor onscreen after a gap of 27 years. + +In 2019, he played the role of Badal Gupta in Sujoy Ghosh's Badla. Later that year, he made his Telugu debut in Surender Reddy's Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy as Gosayi Venkanna. He did Gulabo Sitabo in 2020 for which he received Filmfare Critics Award For Best Actor. In 2021, he appeared in Rumy Jaffery's mystery thriller Chehre along with Emraan Hashmi. In 2022, he did 5 films: Jhund, Runway 34, Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva, Goodbye and Uunchai. + +He is all set to appear in Nag Ashwin's Kalki 2898 AD. + +Other work + +Television appearances +In 2000, Bachchan hosted the first season of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), the Indian adaptation of the British television game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. The show was well received. A second season followed in 2005 but its run was cut short by Star Plus when Bachchan fell ill in 2006. He then returned to host the fourth season, and has hosted the show since. + +In 2009, Bachchan hosted the third season of the reality show Bigg Boss. + +In 2010, Bachchan hosted the fourth season of KBC. The fifth season started on 15 August 2011 and ended on 17 November 2011. The show became a massive hit with audiences and broke many TRP Records. CNN IBN awarded Indian of the Year- Entertainment to Team KBC and Bachchan. The Show also grabbed all the major Awards for its category. + +The sixth season was also hosted by Bachchan, commencing on 7 September 2012, broadcast on Sony TV and received the highest number of viewers thus far. + +In 2014, he debuted in the fictional Sony Entertainment Television TV series titled Yudh playing the lead role of a businessman battling both his personal and professional life. + +Voice-acting +Bachchan is known for his deep, baritone voice. He has been a narrator, a playback singer, and presenter for numerous programmes. Some prominent films featuring his narration are Satyajit Ray's 1977 film Shatranj Ke Khiladi. and Ashutosh Gowarikar's 2001 film Lagaan. + +He also has done voice-over work for the following movies: + + Bhuvan Shome (1969) + Bawarchi (1972) + Balika Badhu (1975) + Tere Mere Sapne (1996) + Hello Brother (1999) + Lagaan (2001) + Fun2shh... Dudes in the 10th Century (2003) + Parineeta (2005) + March of the Penguins (2005), Indian version + Jodhaa Akbar (2008) + Swami (2007) + Zor Lagaa Ke...Haiya! (2009) + Ra.One (2011) + Kahaani (2012) + Krrish 3 (2013) + Mahabharat (2013) + Kochadaiiyaan (Hindi Version) (2014) + CBI documentary (2014) – sanctioned by Central Bureau of Investigation + The Ghazi Attack (2017) + Firangi (2017) + +Business investments +Around 1994, Bachchan started Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd (ABCL), an event management, production and distribution company. But the company led into debt with fiasco and gone into bankruptcy, subsequently Bachchan became nearly bankrupt. Reasons of this debacle was flop films such as Mrityudata, Major Saab (produced by this organisation), Miss World 1996 which was organised-managed by ABCL. Due to this he began work for TV, asked for work to Yash Chopra. Once he told that, 'it was darkest time for him'. + +He has invested in many upcoming business ventures. In 2013, he bought a 10% stake in Just Dial from which he made a gain of 4600 per cent. He holds a 3.4% equity in Stampede Capital, a financial technology firm specialising in cloud computing for financial markets. The Bachchan family also bought shares worth $252,000 in Meridian Tech, a consulting company in U.S. Recently they made their first overseas investment in Ziddu.com, a cloud based content distribution platform. +Bachchan was named in the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers, leaked confidential documents relating to offshore investment. + +Political career +In 1984, Bachchan took a break from acting and briefly entered politics in support of a long-time family friend, Rajiv Gandhi. He contested the Allahabad's (presently Prayagraj Lok Sabha constituency) seat for the 8th Lok Sabha against H. N. Bahuguna, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. With 68.2% of the votes in his favour, he won by one of the highest victory margins ever in Indian elections. In 1987, Indian Express said his brother Ajitabh Bachchan owned an apartment in Switzerland, giving rise to speculations about his involvement in the "Bofors scandal", revealed in the year before. Bachchan resigned from his seat in July 1987. Ajitabh Bachchan sued Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter for linking him to Bofors payments in 1990 and won damages in the United Kingdom. Sten Lindstrom, the Swedish police chief who had investigated the case, said in 2012 that "Indian investigators planted the Bachchan angle on" Dagens Nyheter. + +Bachchan's old friend, Amar Singh, helped him during the financial crisis caused by the failure of his company, ABCL. Thereafter Bachchan started supporting the Samajwadi Party, the political party to which Amar Singh belonged. Jaya Bachchan joined the Samajwadi Party and represented the party as an MP in the Rajya Sabha. Bachchan appeared in advertisements and political campaigns for the party. His claim that he too was a farmer in the advertisements were questioned in courts. + +Bachchan has claimed to have been banned by film press during the emergency years for his family's friendship with Indira Gandhi. + +Bachchan has been accused of using the slogan "blood for blood" in the context of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Bachchan has denied the allegation. In October 2014, Bachchan was summoned by a court in Los Angeles for "allegedly instigating violence against the Sikh community". Bachchan in an interview with journalist Arnab Goswami offered to fight the case in court and asked the accusers to file the same as also present proof. He was also one of the trustees of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. + +Humanitarian and social causes +Bachchan has been involved with many social causes. For example, he donated to clear the debts of nearly 40 beleaguered farmers in Andhra Pradesh and to clear the debts of some 100 Vidarbha farmers. In 2010, he donated to Resul Pookutty's foundation for a medical centre at Kochi, and he has given () to the family of Delhi policeman Subhash Chand Tomar who died after succumbing to injuries during a protest against gang-rape after the 2012 Delhi gang rape case. He founded the Harivansh Rai Bachchan Memorial Trust, named after his father, in 2013. This trust, in association with Urja Foundation, will be powering 3,000 homes in India with electricity through solar energy. In June 2019 he cleared debts of 2100 farmers from Bihar.Bachchan was made a UNICEF goodwill ambassador for the polio Eradication Campaign in India in 2002. In 2013, he and his family donated () to a charitable trust, Plan India, that works for the betterment of young girls in India. He also donated () to the Maharashtra Police Welfare Fund in 2013. + +Bachchan was the face of the 'Save Our Tigers' campaign that promoted the importance of tiger conservation in India. He supported the campaign by PETA in India to free Sunder, a 14-year-old elephant who was chained and tortured in a temple in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. + +In 2014, it was announced that he had recorded his voice and lent his image to the Hindi and English language versions of the TeachAids software, an international HIV/AIDS prevention education tool developed at Stanford University. He has been a vocal "brand ambassador" of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and featured in a few advertisements to promote the campaign. + +In 2020, Bachchan was helping the Government of India promote its public health message concerning COVID-19 before he and some members of his family themselves became infected. He was hospitalised with reported mild symptoms of the disease on 11 July. He was discharged from hospital on 2 August. During the pandemic he lent his support by donating Oxygen concentrators and 25 cr rupees in various forms. + +Personal life + +Bachchan has been married to veteran actress and politician Jaya Bhaduri since 3 June 1973, when he was 30 years old, and together they have two children; Abhishek, an actor, and Shweta, an author, journalist and former model. Abhishek married actress Aishwarya Rai, and they have a daughter named Aaradhya. Shweta is married to businessman Nikhil Nanda who is a part of the Kapoor family of actors. They have a daughter, Navya Naveli, and a son, Agastya. Amitabh's family lives in Mumbai in Maharashtra. His younger brother Ajitabh Bachchan is a businessman. He did business and lived in London for brief period of time. Presently he is living in India. He and his family choose to stay away from limelight. His wife Ramola is a fashion designer and was active in business. Ajitabh has one son, Bhim, and three daughters Naina, Namrata and Nilima. Naina Bachchan is married to actor Kunal Kapoor. + +Bachchan was famously rumoured to have had an extramarital affair with actress Rekha in the mid-1970s to the early 1980s after they first acted together in Do Anjaane, and later in many successful films like Khoon Pasina, Ganga Ki Saugandh, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Mr. Natwarlal, Suhaag, Ram Balram and ending in Silsila, though they have both denied it. + +Filmography + +Legacy + +Bachchan is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of Indian cinema. He earned respect among critics for his memorable performances and charismatic screen presence, is also considered one of the most respected public figures of India. Referred to as the "Shahenshah of Bollywood", "Star of the Millennium" or "Big B", He inspired many great and successful Indian cinema actors for many generations including Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi, Kamal Hassan, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Manoj Bajpayee, Ajay Devgn, Mohanlal, Ranveer Singh, Allu Arjun and Yash. Referred to as the "Shahenshah of Bollywood", "Star of the Millennium" or "Big B", French director François Truffaut called him a "one-man industry." + +In 1999, Bachchan was voted the "greatest star of stage or screen" in a BBC Your Millennium online poll. The organisation noted that "Many people in the western world will not have heard of [him] ... [but it] is a reflection of the huge popularity of Indian films." In October 2003, TIME magazine dubbed Bachchan as "the Undisputed Godfather of Bollywood". In April 2005, The Walter Reade Theater of Lincoln Center in New York honored Bachchan with a special tribute, retrospective—titled "Amitabh Bachchan: The Biggest Film Star in the World". + +In the early 80s, Bachchan authorised the use of his likeness for the comic book character Supremo in a series titled The Adventures of Amitabh Bachchan. In May 2014, La Trobe University in Australia named a Scholarship after Bachchan. In June 2000, he became the first living Asian to have been modelled in wax at London's Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Another statue was installed in New York in 2009, Hong Kong in 2011, Bangkok in 2011, Washington, DC in 2012 and Delhi in 2017. + +In March 2010, Bachchan has been named the list of CNN's "top 25 Asian actors of all time". He was named "Hottest Vegetarian male" by PETA India in 2012. He also won the title of "Asia's Sexiest Vegetarian male" in a contest poll run by PETA Asia in 2008. + +In Allahabad, the Amitabh Bachchan Sports Complex and Amitabh Bachchan Road are named after him. A government senior secondary school in Saifai, Etawah is called Amitabh Bachchan Government Inter College. There is a waterfall in Sikkim known as Amitabh Bachchan Falls. + +In 2022, on the occasion of Bachchan's 80th birthday, not-for-profit organisation Film Heritage Foundation announced a film festival as a part of his 11 films collection had screened in 17 cities across the country shown in limited movies theatres. + +Biographies + +Several books have been written about Bachchan. The following is the listing of books focused on his life career: + +Amitabh Bachchan: the Legend was published in 1999, +To be or not to be: Amitabh Bachchan in 2004, +AB: The Legend (A Photographer's Tribute) in 2006, +Amitabh Bachchan: Ek Jeevit Kimvadanti in 2006, +Amitabh: The Making of a Superstar in 2006, +Looking for the Big B: Bollywood, Bachchan and Me in 2007 and +Bachchanalia in 2009. + +Awards and honours + +Apart from industry awards won for his performances throughout the years, Bachchan has received several honours for his achievements in the Indian film industry. In 1991, he became the first artist to receive the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award, which was established in the name of Raj Kapoor. Bachchan was crowned as Superstar of the Millennium in 2000 at the Filmfare Awards. + +In 2001, he was honoured with the Actor of the Century award at the Alexandria International Film Festival in Egypt in recognition of his contribution to the world of cinema. Many other honours for his achievements were conferred upon him at several International Film Festivals, including the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Asian Film Awards. + +In 2003, he was conferred with the Honorary Citizenship of the French town of Deauville. The Government of India awarded him with the Padma Shri in 1984, the Padma Bhushan in 2001, the Padma Vibhushan in 2015 and Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2019. The then-President of Afghanistan awarded him the Order of Afghanistan in 1991 following the shooting of Khuda Gawah there. The Government of Madhya Pradesh honoured him with Rashtriya Kishore Kumar Samman for 2002–2003. + +France's highest civilian honour, the Knight of the Legion of honour, was conferred upon him by the French Government in 2007 for his "exceptional career in the world of cinema and beyond". On 27 July 2012, at the age of 69, Bachchan carried the Olympic torch during the last leg of its relay in London's Southwark. + +Bibliography + Soul Curry for You and Me – An Empowering Philosophy That Can Enrich Your Life. (2002) + +See also + List of Bollywood actors + Lists of Indian actors + +References + +Further reading + +External links + + + + + + + +1942 births +Officers of the Legion of Honour +Male actors in Hindi cinema +Male actors from Mumbai +Indian actor-politicians +Indian amateur radio operators +Indian male film actors +Hindi film producers +Indian male singers +Bollywood playback singers +Indian television presenters +Indian male voice actors +Living people +Best Actor National Film Award winners +Male actors from Prayagraj +Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts +Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts +Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? +India MPs 1984–1989 +Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh +Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts +Indian male playback singers +People named in the Panama Papers +Film producers from Mumbai +20th-century Indian male actors +21st-century Indian male actors +Male actors in Hindi television +Indian male television actors +Politicians from Prayagraj +Film producers from Uttar Pradesh +People from New Alipore +Filmfare Awards winners +Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award winners +Screen Awards winners +International Indian Film Academy Awards winners +Zee Cine Awards winners +Indian Hindus +Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients +People named in the Paradise Papers +In linguistics, an allomorph is a variant phonetic form of a morpheme, or, a unit of meaning that varies in sound and spelling without changing the meaning. The term allomorph describes the realization of phonological variations for a specific morpheme. The different allomorphs that a morpheme can become are governed by morphophonemic rules. These phonological rules determine what phonetic form, or specific pronunciation, a morpheme will take based on the phonological or morphological context in which they appear. + +In English +English has several morphemes that vary in sound but not in meaning, such as past tense morphemes, plural morphemes, and negative morphemes. + +Past tense allomorphs +For example, an English past tense morpheme is -ed, which occurs in several allomorphs depending on its phonological environment by assimilating the voicing of the previous segment or the insertion of a schwa after an alveolar stop: + +as or in verbs whose stem ends with the alveolar stops or , such as 'hunted' or 'banded' +as in verbs whose stem ends with voiceless phonemes other than , such as 'fished' +as in verbs whose stem ends with voiced phonemes other than , such as 'buzzed' + +The "other than" restrictions above are typical for allomorphy. If the allomorphy conditions are ordered from most restrictive (in this case, after an alveolar stop) to least restrictive, the first matching case usually has precedence. Thus, the above conditions could be rewritten as follows: + +as or when the stem ends with the alveolar stops or +as when the stem ends with voiceless phonemes +as elsewhere + +The allomorph does not appear after stem-final although the latter is voiceless, which is then explained by appearing in that environment, together with the fact that the environments are ordered. Likewise, the allomorph does not appear after stem-final because the earlier clause for the allomorph has priority. The allomorph does not appear after stem-final voiceless phoneme because the preceding clause for the comes first. + +Irregular past tense forms, such as "broke" or "was/were," can be seen as still more specific cases since they are confined to certain lexical items, such as the verb "break," which take priority over the general cases listed above. + +Plural allomorphs +The plural morpheme for regular nouns in English is typically realized by adding an -s or -es to the end of the noun. However, the plural morpheme actually has three different allomorphs: [-s], [-z], and [-əz]. The specific pronunciation that a plural morpheme takes on is determined by the following morphological rules: + + Assume that the basic form of the plural morpheme, /-z/, is [-z] ("bags" /bægz/) + The morpheme /-z/ becomes [-əz] by inserting an [ə] before [-z] when a noun ends in a sibilant ("buses" /bʌsəz/) + Change the morpheme /-z/ to a voiceless [-s] when a noun ends in a voiceless sound ("caps" /kæps/) + +Negative allomorphs +In English, the negative prefix in- has three allomorphs: [ɪn-], [ɪŋ-], and [ɪm-]. The phonetic form that the negative morpheme /ɪn-/ uses is determined by the following morphological rules: + + the negative morpheme /ɪn-/ becomes [ɪn-] when preceding an alveolar consonant ("intolerant"/ɪn'tɔlərənt/) + the morpheme /ɪn-/ becomes [ɪŋ-] before a velar consonant ("incongruous" /ɪŋ'kɔŋgruəs/) + the morpheme /ɪn-/ becomes [ɪm-] before a bilabial consonant ("improper" /ɪm'prɔpər/) + +In Sami languages +The Sami languages have a trochaic pattern of alternating stressed and unstressed syllables. The vowels and consonants that are allowed in an unstressed syllable differ from those that are allowed in a stressed syllable. Consequently, every suffix and inflectional ending has two forms, and the form that is used depends on the stress pattern of the word to which it is attached. For example, Northern Sami has the causative verb suffix - in which - is selected when it would be the third syllable (and the preceding verb has two syllables), and - is selected when it would be the third and the fourth syllables (and the preceding verb has three syllables): + has two syllables and so when suffixed, the result is . + has three syllables and so when suffixed, the result is . +The same applies to inflectional patterns in the Sami languages as well, which are divided into even stems and odd stems. + +Stem allomorphy +Allomorphy can also exist in stems or roots, as in Classical Sanskrit: + +There are three allomorphs of the stem, , , and , which are conditioned by the particular case-marking suffixes. + +The form of the stem , found in the nominative singular and locative plural, is the etymological form of the morpheme. Pre-Indic palatalization of velars resulted in the variant form , which was initially phonologically conditioned. The conditioning can still be seen in the locative singular form, for which the is followed by the high front vowel . + +However, the subsequent merging of and into made the alternation unpredictable on phonetic grounds in the genitive case (both singular and plural) as well as the nominative plural and the instrumental singular. Thus, allomorphy was no longer directly relatable to phonological processes. + +Phonological conditioning also accounts for the form in the instrumental plural, in which the assimilates in voicing to the following . + +History +The term was originally used to describe variations in chemical structure. It was first applied to language (in writing) in 1948, by Fatih Şat and Sibel Merve in Language XXIV. + +See also +Null allomorph +Alternation (linguistics) +Allophone +Consonant mutation +Grassmann's law +Suppletion + +References + + +Linguistic morphology +Morphemes +Linguistics terminology +In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is one of multiple possible spoken soundsor phonesor signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, the voiceless plosive (as in stop ) and the aspirated form (as in top ) are allophones for the phoneme , while these two are considered to be different phonemes in some languages such as Thai. Similarly, in Spanish, (as in dolor ) and (as in nada ) are allophones for the phoneme , while these two are considered to be different phonemes in English (as in the difference between dare and there). + +The specific allophone selected in a given situation is often predictable from the phonetic context, with such allophones being called positional variants, but some allophones occur in free variation. Replacing a sound by another allophone of the same phoneme usually does not change the meaning of a word, but the result may sound non-native or even unintelligible. + +Native speakers of a given language perceive one phoneme in the language as a single distinctive sound and are "both unaware of and even shocked by" the allophone variations that are used to pronounce single phonemes. + +History of concept +The term "allophone" was coined by Benjamin Lee Whorf circa 1929. In doing so, he is thought to have placed a cornerstone in consolidating early phoneme theory. The term was popularized by George L. Trager and Bernard Bloch in a 1941 paper on English phonology and went on to become part of standard usage within the American structuralist tradition. + +Complementary and free-variant allophones and assimilation +Whenever a user's speech is vocalized for a given phoneme, it is slightly different from other utterances, even for the same speaker. That has led to some debate over how real and how universal phonemes really are (see phoneme for details). Only some of the variation is significant, by being detectable or perceivable, to speakers. + +There are two types of allophones, based on whether a phoneme must be pronounced using a specific allophone in a specific situation or whether the speaker has the unconscious freedom to choose the allophone that is used. + +If a specific allophone from a set of allophones that correspond to a phoneme must be selected in a given context, and using a different allophone for a phoneme would cause confusion or make the speaker sound non-native, the allophones are said to be complementary. The allophones then complement each other, and one of them is not used in a situation in which the usage of another is standard. For complementary allophones, each allophone is used in a specific phonetic context and may be involved in a phonological process. + +In other cases, the speaker can freely select from free-variant allophones on personal habit or preference, but free-variant allophones are still selected in the specific context, not the other way around. + +Another example of an allophone is assimilation, in which a phoneme is to sound more like another phoneme. One example of assimilation is consonant voicing and devoicing, in which voiceless consonants are voiced before and after voiced consonants, and voiced consonants are devoiced before and after voiceless consonants. + +Allotone +An allotone is a tonic allophone, such as the neutral tone in Standard Mandarin. + +Examples + +English + + +There are many allophonic processes in English: lack of plosion, nasal plosion, partial devoicing of sonorants, complete devoicing of sonorants, partial devoicing of obstruents, lengthening and shortening vowels, and retraction. + + Aspiration: In English, a voiceless plosive is aspirated (has a strong explosion of breath) if it is at the beginning of the first or a stressed syllable in a word. For example, as in pin and as in spin are allophones for the phoneme because they cannot distinguish words (in fact, they occur in complementary distribution). English-speakers treat them as the same sound, but they are different: the first is aspirated and the second is unaspirated (plain). Many languages treat the two phones differently. + Nasal plosion: In English, a plosive () has nasal plosion if it is followed by a nasal, whether within a word or across a word boundary. + Partial devoicing of sonorants: In English, sonorants () are partially devoiced after a voiceless sound in the same syllable. + Complete devoicing of sonorants: In English, a sonorant is completely devoiced after an aspirated plosive (). + Partial devoicing of obstruents: In English, a voiced obstruent is partially devoiced next to a pause or next to a voiceless sound within a word or across a word boundary. + Retraction: In English, are retracted before . + +Because the choice among allophones is seldom under conscious control, few people realize their existence. English-speakers may be unaware of differences between a number of (dialect-dependent) allophones of the phoneme : + + post-aspirated as in top, + unaspirated as in stop. + glottalized (or rather substituted by the glottal stop) as in button, but many speakers preserve at least an unreleased coronal stop . + +In addition, the following allophones of /t/ are found in (at least) some dialects of American(ised) English; + flapped as in American English water, + nasal(ized) flapped as in American English winter. + unreleased as in American English cat, but other dialects preserve the released , or substitute the glottal stop . + +However, speakers may become aware of the differences iffor examplethey contrast the pronunciations of the following words: + +Night rate: unreleased (without a word space between and ) +Nitrate: aspirated or retracted + +A flame that is held in front of the lips while those words are spoken flickers more for the aspirated nitrate than for the unaspirated night rate. The difference can also be felt by holding the hand in front of the lips. For a Mandarin-speaker, for whom and are separate phonemes, the English distinction is much more obvious than for an English-speaker, who has learned since childhood to ignore the distinction. + +One may notice the (dialect-dependent) allophones of English such as the (palatal) alveolar "light" of leaf as opposed to the velar alveolar "dark" in feel found in the U.S. and Southern England. The difference is much more obvious to a Turkish-speaker, for whom and are separate phonemes, than to an English speaker, for whom they are allophones of a single phoneme. + +These descriptions are more sequentially broken down in the next section. + +Rules for English consonant allophones + +Peter Ladefoged, a renowned phonetician, clearly explains the consonant allophones of English in a precise list of statements to illustrate the language behavior. Some of these rules apply to all the consonants of English; the first item on the list deals with consonant length, items 2 through 18 apply to only selected groups of consonants, and the last item deals with the quality of a consonant. +These descriptive rules are as follows: + Consonants are longer when they come at the end of a phrase. This can be easily tested by recording a speaker saying a sound like “bib”, then comparing the forward and backward playback of the recording. One will find that the backward playback does not sound like the forward playback because the production of what is expected to be the same sound is not identical. + Voiceless stops are aspirated when they come at the beginning of a syllable, such as in words like "pip, test, kick" . We can compare this with voiceless stops that are not syllable initial like "stop" [stɑp]. The voiceless stop follows the (fricative) here. + Voiced obstruents, which include stops and fricatives, such as , that come at the end of an utterance like in "improve" or before a voiceless sound like in "add two") are only briefly voiced during the articulation. + Voiced stops and affricates in fact occur as voiceless at the beginning of a syllable unless immediately preceded by a voiced sound, in which the voiced sound carries over. + Approximants (in English, these include ) are partially voiceless when they occur after syllable-initial like in "play, twin, cue" . + Voiceless stops are not aspirated when following after a syllable initial fricative, such as in the words "spew, stew, skew." + Voiceless stops and affricates are longer than their voiced counterparts when situated at the end of a syllable. Try comparing "cap" to "cab" or "back" to "bag". + When a stop comes before another stop, the explosion of air only follows after the second stop, illustrated in words like "apt" and "rubbed" . + Many English accents produce a glottal stop in syllables that end with voiceless stops. Some examples include pronunciations of "tip, pit, kick" . + Some accents of English use a glottal stop in place of a when it comes before an alveolar nasal in the same word (as opposed to in the next word), such as in the word "beaten" . + Nasals become syllabic, or their own syllable, only when immediately following an obstruent (as opposed to just any consonant), such as in the words "leaden, chasm" . Take in comparison "kiln, film"; in most accents of English, the nasals are not syllabic. + The lateral , however, is syllabic at the end of the word when immediately following any consonant, like in "paddle, whistle" . + When considering as liquids, is included in this rule as well as present in the words "sabre, razor, hammer, tailor" . + Alveolar stops become voiced taps when they occur between two vowels, as long as the second vowel is unstressed. Take for instance mainly American English pronunciations like "fatty, data, daddy, many" . + When an alveolar nasal is followed by a stop, the is lost and a nasal tap occurs, causing "winter" to sound just like "winner" or "panting" to sound just like "panning". In this case, both alveolar stops and alveolar nasal plus stop sequences become voiced taps after two vowels when the second vowel is unstressed. This can vary among speakers, where the rule does not apply to certain words or when speaking at a slower pace. + All alveolar consonants assimilate to dentals when occurring before a dental. Take the words "eighth, tenth, wealth". This also applies across word boundaries, for example "at this" . + Alveolar stops are reduced or omitted when between two consonants. Some examples include "most people" (can be written either as or with the IPA, where the is inaudible, and "sand paper, grand master", where the is inaudible. + A consonant is shortened when it is before an identical consonant, such as in "big game" or "top post". + A homorganic voiceless stop may be inserted after a nasal before a voiceless fricative followed by an unstressed vowel in the same word. For example, a bilabial voiceless plosive can be detected in the word "something" even though it is orthographically not indicated. This is known as epenthesis. However, the following vowel must be unstressed. + Velar stops become more front when the following vowel sound in the same syllable becomes more front. Compare for instance "cap" vs. "key" and "gap" vs. "geese" . + The lateral is velarized at the end of a word when it comes after a vowel as well as before a consonant. Compare for example "life" vs. "file" or "feeling" vs. "feel" . + +Other languages +There are many examples for allophones in languages other than English. Typically, languages with a small phoneme inventory allow for quite a lot of allophonic variation: examples are Hawaiian and Pirahã. Here are some examples (the links of language names go to the specific article or subsection on the phenomenon): + Consonant allophones +Final devoicing, particularly final-obstruent devoicing: Arapaho, English, Nahuatl, Catalan and many others + Voicing of initial consonant + Anticipatory assimilation + Aspiration changes: Algonquin + Frication between vowels: Dahalo + Lenition: Manx, Corsican + Voicing of clicks: Dahalo + + Allophones for : Arapaho, Xavante + Allophones for : Xavante + Allophones for : Bengali + Allophones for : Xavante + Allophones for : Manam + Allophones for : Garhwali + and as allophones: a number of Arabic dialects + and as allophones: Some dialects of Hawaiian, and some of Mandarin (e.g. Southwestern and Lower Yangtze) + Allophones for + : Finnish, Spanish and many more. + wide range of variation in Japanese (as archiphoneme /N/) + Allophones for : Xavante + Allophones for : Bengali + Allophones for : Bengali, Taos + and as allophones: Hawaiian + Allophones for : + and : Hindustani, Hawaiian + fricative before unrounded vowels: O'odham + Allophones for : Bengali + Vowel allophones + and are allophones of and in closed final syllables in Malay and Portuguese, while and are allophones of and in Indonesian. + as allophones for short , and as allophones for short in various Arabic dialects (long , , , are separate phonemes in most Arabic dialects). + Polish + Russian + Allophones for , and : Nuxálk + Vowel/consonant allophones + Vowels become glides in diphthongs: Manam + +Representing a phoneme with an allophone +Since phonemes are abstractions of speech sounds, not the sounds themselves, they have no direct phonetic transcription. When they are realized without much allophonic variation, a simple broad transcription is used. However, when there are complementary allophones of a phoneme, the allophony becomes significant and things then become more complicated. Often, if only one of the allophones is simple to transcribe, in the sense of not requiring diacritics, that representation is chosen for the phoneme. + +However, there may be several such allophones, or the linguist may prefer greater precision than that allows. In such cases, a common convention is to use the "elsewhere condition" to decide the allophone that stands for the phoneme. The "elsewhere" allophone is the one that remains once the conditions for the others are described by phonological rules. + +For example, English has both oral and nasal allophones of its vowels. The pattern is that vowels are nasal only before a nasal consonant in the same syllable; elsewhere, they are oral. Therefore, by the "elsewhere" convention, the oral allophones are considered basic, and nasal vowels in English are considered to be allophones of oral phonemes. + +In other cases, an allophone may be chosen to represent its phoneme because it is more common in the languages of the world than the other allophones, because it reflects the historical origin of the phoneme, or because it gives a more balanced look to a chart of the phonemic inventory. + +An alternative, which is commonly used for archiphonemes, is to use a capital letter, such as /N/ for [m], [n], [ŋ]. + +In rare cases, a linguist may represent phonemes with abstract symbols, such as dingbats, to avoid privileging any particular allophone. + +See also +Allo- +Allophonic rule +Allomorph +Alternation (linguistics) +Diaphoneme +List of phonetics topics + +References + +External links + Phonemes and allophones + +Phonetics +Phonology +In linguistics, an affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word or word form. The main two categories are derivational and inflectional affixes. The first ones, such as -un, -ation, anti-, pre- etc, introduce a semantic change to the word they are attached to. The latter ones introduce a syntactic change, such as singular into plural (e.g. -(e)s), or present simple tense into present continuous or past tense by adding -ing, -ed to a word. All of them are bound morphemes by definition; prefixes and suffixes may be separable affixes. + +Adfixes, infixes and their variations +Changing a word by adding a morpheme at its beginning is called prefixation, in the middle is called infixation, and at the end is called suffixation. + +Prefix and suffix may be subsumed under the term adfix, in contrast to infix. + +When marking text for interlinear glossing, as in the third column in the chart above, simple affixes such as prefixes and suffixes are separated from the stem with hyphens. Affixes which disrupt the stem, or which themselves are discontinuous, are often marked off with angle brackets. Reduplication is often shown with a tilde. Affixes which cannot be segmented are marked with a back slash. + +Lexical affixes +Semantically speaking, lexical affixes or semantic affixes, when compared with free nouns, often have a more generic or general meaning, for example, one denoting "water in a general sense" may not have a noun equivalent because all the nouns denote more specific meanings such as "saltwater", "whitewater", etc (while in other cases the lexical suffixes have become grammaticalized to various degrees.) Although they behave as incorporated noun roots/stems within verbs and as elements of nouns, they never occur as freestanding nouns. Lexical affixes are relatively rare and are used in Wakashan, Salishan, and Chimakuan languages — the presence of these is an areal feature of the Pacific Northwest of North America - where they show little to no resemblance to free nouns with similar meanings. Compare the lexical suffixes and free nouns of Northern Straits Saanich written in the Saanich orthography and in Americanist notation: + +Some linguists have claimed that these lexical suffixes provide only adverbial or adjectival notions to verbs. Other linguists disagree arguing that they may additionally be syntactic arguments just as free nouns are and, thus, equating lexical suffixes with incorporated nouns. Gerdts (2003) gives examples of lexical suffixes in the Halkomelem language (the word order here is verb–subject–object): + +{| class="IPA wikitable" +|- style="line-height: 1.0em; font-size: 75%" +| +| +| style="background: #bbbbff" | VERB +| style="background: #ffebad" | SUBJ +| style="background: #ffbbbb" | OBJ +|- +| (1) +| niʔ +| šak’ʷ-ət-əs +| łə słeniʔ +| łə qeq +|- +| +| colspan="4" | "the woman washed the baby" +|- style="line-height: 1.0em; font-size: 75%" +| bgcolor=white colspan=5|  +|- style="line-height: 1.0em; font-size: 75%" +| +| +| style="background: #bbbbff" | VERB+LEX.SUFF +| style="background: #ffebad" | SUBJ +| +|- +| (2) +| niʔ +| šk’ʷ-əyəł +| łə słeniʔ +| +|- +| +| colspan="4" | "the woman baby-washed" +|} + +In sentence (1), the verb "wash" is šak’ʷətəs where šak’ʷ- is the root and -ət and -əs are inflectional suffixes. The subject "the woman" is łə słeniʔ and the object "the baby" is łə qeq. In this sentence, "the baby" is a free noun. (The niʔ here is an auxiliary, which can be ignored for explanatory purposes.) + +In sentence (2), "baby" does not appear as a free noun. Instead it appears as the lexical suffix -əyəł which is affixed to the verb root šk’ʷ- (which has changed slightly in pronunciation, but this can also be ignored here). The lexical suffix is neither "the baby" (definite) nor "a baby" (indefinite); such referential changes are routine with incorporated nouns. + +Orthographic affixes +In orthography, the terms for affixes may be used for the smaller elements of conjunct characters. For example, Maya glyphs are generally compounds of a main sign and smaller affixes joined at its margins. These are called prefixes, superfixes, postfixes, and subfixes according to their position to the left, on top, to the right, or at the bottom of the main glyph. A small glyph placed inside another is called an infix. Similar terminology is found with the conjunct consonants of the Indic alphabets. For example, the Tibetan alphabet utilizes prefix, suffix, superfix, and subfix consonant letters. + +See also + + Agglutination + Augmentative + Binary prefix + Clitic + Combining form + Concatenation + Diminutive + English prefixes + Family name affixes + Internet-related prefixes + Marker (linguistics) + Morphological derivation + Separable affix + SI prefix + Stemming - affix removal using computer software + Unpaired word + Word formation + +References + +Bibliography + + Montler, Timothy. (1986). An outline of the morphology and phonology of Saanich, North Straits Salish. Occasional Papers in Linguistics (No. 4). Missoula, MT: University of Montana Linguistics Laboratory. + Montler, Timothy. (1991). Saanich, North Straits Salish classified word list. Canadian Ethnology service paper (No. 119); Mercury series. Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization. + +External links + +Comprehensive and searchable affix dictionary reference + + +Lexical units +Linguistics terminology +As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughout history in all forms of art to illustrate or convey complex ideas and concepts in ways that are comprehensible or striking to its viewers, readers, or listeners. + +Writers and speakers typically use allegories to convey (semi-) hidden or complex meanings through symbolic figures, actions, imagery, or events, which together create the moral, spiritual, or political meaning the author wishes to convey. Many allegories use personification of abstract concepts. + +Etymology + +First attested in English in 1382, the word allegory comes from Latin allegoria, the latinisation of the Greek ἀλληγορία (allegoría), "veiled language, figurative", which in turn comes from both ἄλλος (allos), "another, different" and ἀγορεύω (agoreuo), "to harangue, to speak in the assembly", which originates from ἀγορά (agora), "assembly". + +Types + +Northrop Frye discussed what he termed a "continuum of allegory", a spectrum that ranges from what he termed the "naive allegory" of the likes of The Faerie Queene, to the more private allegories of modern paradox literature. +In this perspective, the characters in a "naive" allegory are not fully three-dimensional, for each aspect of their individual personalities and of the events that befall them embodies some moral quality or other abstraction; the author has selected the allegory first, and the details merely flesh it out. + +Classical allegory + +The origins of allegory can be traced at least back to Homer in his "quasi-allegorical" use of personifications of, e.g., Terror (Deimos) and Fear (Phobos) at Il. 115 f. The title of "first allegorist", however, is usually awarded to whoever was the earliest to put forth allegorical interpretations of Homer. This approach leads to two possible answers: Theagenes of Rhegium (whom Porphyry calls the "first allegorist," Porph. Quaest. Hom. 1.240.14–241.12 Schrad.) or Pherecydes of Syros, both of whom are presumed to be active in the 6th century B.C.E., though Pherecydes is earlier and as he is often presumed to be the first writer of prose. The debate is complex, since it demands we observe the distinction between two often conflated uses of the Greek verb "allēgoreīn," which can mean both "to speak allegorically" and "to interpret allegorically." + +In the case of "interpreting allegorically," Theagenes appears to be our earliest example. Presumably in response to proto-philosophical moral critiques of Homer (e.g., Xenophanes fr. 11 Diels-Kranz ), Theagenes proposed symbolic interpretations whereby the Gods of the Iliad actually stood for physical elements. So, Hephestus represents Fire, for instance (for which see fr. A2 in Diels-Kranz ). Some scholars, however, argue that Pherecydes cosmogonic writings anticipated Theagenes allegorical work, illustrated especially by his early placement of Time (Chronos) in his genealogy of the gods, which is thought to be a reinterpretation of the titan Kronos, from more traditional genealogies. + +In classical literature two of the best-known allegories are the Cave in Plato's The Republic (Book VII) and the story of the stomach and its members in the speech of Menenius Agrippa (Livy ii. 32). + +Among the best-known examples of allegory, Plato's Allegory of the Cave, forms a part of his larger work The Republic. In this allegory, Plato describes a group of people who have lived chained in a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall (514a–b). The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows, using language to identify their world (514c–515a). According to the allegory, the shadows are as close as the prisoners get to viewing reality, until one of them finds his way into the outside world where he sees the actual objects that produced the shadows. He tries to tell the people in the cave of his discovery, but they do not believe him and vehemently resist his efforts to free them so they can see for themselves (516e–518a). This allegory is, on a basic level, about a philosopher who upon finding greater knowledge outside the cave of human understanding, seeks to share it as is his duty, and the foolishness of those who would ignore him because they think themselves educated enough. + +In Late Antiquity Martianus Capella organized all the information a fifth-century upper-class male needed to know into an allegory of the wedding of Mercury and Philologia, with the seven liberal arts the young man needed to know as guests. Also, the Neoplatonic philosophy developed a type of allegorical reading of Homer and Plato. + +Biblical allegory +Other early allegories are found in the Hebrew Bible, such as the extended metaphor in Psalm 80 of the Vine and its impressive spread and growth, representing Israel's conquest and peopling of the Promised Land. Also allegorical is Ezekiel 16 and 17, wherein the capture of that same vine by the mighty Eagle represents Israel's exile to Babylon. + +Allegorical interpretation of the Bible was a common early Christian practice and continues. For example, the recently re-discovered Fourth Commentary on the Gospels by Fortunatianus of Aquileia has a comment by its English translator: "The principal characteristic of Fortunatianus' exegesis is a figurative approach, relying on a set of concepts associated with key terms in order to create an allegorical decoding of the text." + +Medieval allegory + +Allegory has an ability to freeze the temporality of a story, while infusing it with a spiritual context. Mediaeval thinking accepted allegory as having a reality underlying any rhetorical or fictional uses. The allegory was as true as the facts of surface appearances. Thus, the Papal Bull Unam Sanctam (1302) presents themes of the unity of Christendom with the pope as its head in which the allegorical details of the metaphors are adduced as facts on which is based a demonstration with the vocabulary of logic: "Therefore of this one and only Church there is one body and one head—not two heads as if it were a monster... If, then, the Greeks or others say that they were not committed to the care of Peter and his successors, they necessarily confess that they are not of the sheep of Christ." This text also demonstrates the frequent use of allegory in religious texts during the Mediaeval Period, following the tradition and example of the Bible. + +In the late 15th century, the enigmatic Hypnerotomachia, with its elaborate woodcut illustrations, shows the influence of themed pageants and masques on contemporary allegorical representation, as humanist dialectic conveyed them. + +The denial of medieval allegory as found in the 12th-century works of Hugh of St Victor and Edward Topsell's Historie of Foure-footed Beastes (London, 1607, 1653) and its replacement in the study of nature with methods of categorisation and mathematics by such figures as naturalist John Ray and the astronomer Galileo is thought to mark the beginnings of early modern science. + +Modern allegory + +Since meaningful stories are nearly always applicable to larger issues, allegories may be read into many stories which the author may not have recognized. This is allegoresis, or the act of reading a story as an allegory. Examples of allegory in popular culture that may or may not have been intended include the works of Bertolt Brecht, and even some works of science fiction and fantasy, such as The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. + +The story of the apple falling onto Isaac Newton's head is another famous allegory. It simplified the idea of gravity by depicting a simple way it was supposedly discovered. It also made the scientific revelation well known by condensing the theory into a short tale. + +Poetry and fiction + +While allegoresis may make discovery of allegory in any work, not every resonant work of modern fiction is allegorical, and some are clearly not intended to be viewed this way. According to Henry Littlefield's 1964 article, L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, may be readily understood as a plot-driven fantasy narrative in an extended fable with talking animals and broadly sketched characters, intended to discuss the politics of the time. Yet, George MacDonald emphasized in 1893 that "A fairy tale is not an allegory." + +J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is another example of a well-known work mistakenly perceived as allegorical, as the author himself once stated, "...I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history – true or feigned – with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author." + +Tolkien specifically resented the suggestion that the book's One Ring, which gives overwhelming power to those possessing it, was intended as an allegory of nuclear weapons. He noted that, had that been his intention, the book would not have ended with the Ring being destroyed but rather with an arms race in which various powers would try to obtain such a Ring for themselves. Then Tolkien went on to outline an alternative plot for "Lord of The Rings", as it would have been written had such an allegory been intended, and which would have made the book into a dystopia. While all this does not mean Tolkien's works may not be treated as having allegorical themes, especially when reinterpreted through postmodern sensibilities, it at least suggests that none were conscious in his writings. This further reinforces the idea of forced allegoresis, as allegory is often a matter of interpretation and only sometimes of original artistic intention. + +Like allegorical stories, allegorical poetry has two meanings – a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. + +Some unique specimens of allegory can be found in the following works: +Edmund Spenser – The Faerie Queene: The several knights in the poem actually stand for several virtues. +William Shakespeare – The Tempest: an allegory of the civilisation/barbarism binary as it pertains to colonialism +John Bunyan – The Pilgrim's Progress: The journey of the protagonists Christian and Evangelist symbolises the ascension of the soul from earth to Heaven. +Nathaniel Hawthorne – Young Goodman Brown: The Devil's Staff symbolises defiance of God. The characters' names, such as Goodman and Faith, ironically serve as paradox in the conclusion of the story. +Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Scarlet Letter: The letter represents self-reliance from America's Puritan and conformity. +George Orwell – Animal Farm: The pigs stand for political figures of the Russian Revolution. +László Krasznahorkai – The Melancholy of Resistance and the film Werckmeister Harmonies: It uses a circus to describe an occupying dysfunctional government. +Edgar Allan Poe – The Masque of the Red Death: The story can be read as an allegory for humans' inability to escape death. +Arthur Miller – The Crucible: The Salem witch trials are thought to be an allegory for McCarthyism and the blacklisting of Communists in the United States of America. + +Shel Silverstein – The Giving Tree: The book has been described as an allegory about relationships; between parents and children, between romantic partners, or between humans and the environment. + +Art +Some elaborate and successful specimens of allegory are to be found in the following works, arranged in approximate chronological order: +Ambrogio Lorenzetti – Allegoria del Buono e Cattivo Governo e loro Effetti in Città e Campagna () +Sandro Botticelli – Primavera () +Albrecht Dürer – Melencolia I (1514) +Bronzino – Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time () +The English School's – "Allegory of Queen Elizabeth" () +Artemisia Gentileschi – Allegory of Inclination (), An Allegory of Peace and the Arts under the English Crown (1638); Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting () + The Feast of Herod with the Beheading of St John the Baptist by Bartholomeus Strobel is also an allegory of Europe in the time of the Thirty Years War, with portraits of many leading political and military figures. +Jan Vermeer – Allegory of Painting () +Fernand Le Quesne – Allégorie de la publicité +Jean-Léon Gérôme – Truth Coming Out of Her Well (1896) +Graydon Parrish – The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy (2006) +Many statues of Lady Justice: "Such visual representations have raised the question why so many allegories in the history of art, pertaining occupations once reserved for men only, are of female sex." +Damien Hirst Verity (2012) +Yves Decadt – Falling Angels : Allegories about the 7 sins and 7 virtues (2023) + +Gallery + +See also +Allegorical interpretations of Plato +Allegorical interpretation of the Bible +Allegory in Renaissance literature +Allegorical sculpture +Cultural depictions of Philip II of Spain +Diwan (poetry) +Freemasonry ("a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.") +Parable +Semiotics +Theagenes of Rhegium + +References + +Further reading +Frye, Northrop (1957) Anatomy of Criticism. +Fletcher, Angus (1964) Allegory: The Theory of a Symbolic Mode. +Foucault, Michel (1966) The Order of Things. + +External links + +Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Allegory in Literary history +Electronic Antiquity, Richard Levis, "Allegory and the Eclogues" Roman definitions of allegoria and interpreting Vergil's Eclogues. +What is an Allegory? Introduction to Allegory + + +Figures of speech +Narrative techniques +Poetic devices +Allotropy or allotropism () is the property of some chemical elements to exist in two or more different forms, in the same physical state, known as allotropes of the elements. Allotropes are different structural modifications of an element: the atoms of the element are bonded together in different manners. +For example, the allotropes of carbon include diamond (the carbon atoms are bonded together to form a cubic lattice of tetrahedra), graphite (the carbon atoms are bonded together in sheets of a hexagonal lattice), graphene (single sheets of graphite), and fullerenes (the carbon atoms are bonded together in spherical, tubular, or ellipsoidal formations). + +The term allotropy is used for elements only, not for compounds. The more general term, used for any compound, is polymorphism, although its use is usually restricted to solid materials such as crystals. Allotropy refers only to different forms of an element within the same physical phase (the state of matter, such as a solid, liquid or gas). The differences between these states of matter would not alone constitute examples of allotropy. Allotropes of chemical elements are frequently referred to as polymorphs or as phases of the element. + +For some elements, allotropes have different molecular formulae or different crystalline structures, as well as a difference in physical phase; for example, two allotropes of oxygen (dioxygen, O2, and ozone, O3) can both exist in the solid, liquid and gaseous states. Other elements do not maintain distinct allotropes in different physical phases; for example, phosphorus has numerous solid allotropes, which all revert to the same P4 form when melted to the liquid state. + +History +The concept of allotropy was originally proposed in 1840 by the Swedish scientist Baron Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779–1848). The term is derived . After the acceptance of Avogadro's hypothesis in 1860, it was understood that elements could exist as polyatomic molecules, and two allotropes of oxygen were recognized as O2 and O3. In the early 20th century, it was recognized that other cases such as carbon were due to differences in crystal structure. + +By 1912, Ostwald noted that the allotropy of elements is just a special case of the phenomenon of polymorphism known for compounds, and proposed that the terms allotrope and allotropy be abandoned and replaced by polymorph and polymorphism. Although many other chemists have repeated this advice, IUPAC and most chemistry texts still favour the usage of allotrope and allotropy for elements only. + +Differences in properties of an element's allotropes +Allotropes are different structural forms of the same element and can exhibit quite different physical properties and chemical behaviours. The change between allotropic forms is triggered by the same forces that affect other structures, i.e., pressure, light, and temperature. Therefore, the stability of the particular allotropes depends on particular conditions. For instance, iron changes from a body-centered cubic structure (ferrite) to a face-centered cubic structure (austenite) above 906 °C, and tin undergoes a modification known as tin pest from a metallic form to a semiconductor form below 13.2 °C (55.8 °F). As an example of allotropes having different chemical behaviour, ozone (O3) is a much stronger oxidizing agent than dioxygen (O2). + +List of allotropes +Typically, elements capable of variable coordination number and/or oxidation states tend to exhibit greater numbers of allotropic forms. Another contributing factor is the ability of an element to catenate. + +Examples of allotropes include: + +Non-metals + +Metalloids + +Metals + +Among the metallic elements that occur in nature in significant quantities (56 up to U, without Tc and Pm), almost half (27) are allotropic at ambient pressure: Li, Be, Na, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Co, Sr, Y, Zr, Sn, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Yb, Hf, Tl, Th, Pa and U. Some phase transitions between allotropic forms of technologically relevant metals are those of Ti at 882 °C, Fe at 912 °C and 1394 °C, Co at 422 °C, Zr at 863 °C, Sn at 13 °C and U at 668 °C and 776 °C. + +Lanthanides and actinides + + Cerium, samarium, dysprosium and ytterbium have three allotropes. + Praseodymium, neodymium, gadolinium and terbium have two allotropes. + Plutonium has six distinct solid allotropes under "normal" pressures. Their densities vary within a ratio of some 4:3, which vastly complicates all kinds of work with the metal (particularly casting, machining, and storage). A seventh plutonium allotrope exists at very high pressures. The transuranium metals Np, Am, and Cm are also allotropic. + Promethium, americium, berkelium and californium have three allotropes each. + +Nanoallotropes +In 2017, the concept of nanoallotropy was proposed by Rafal Klajn of the Organic Chemistry Department of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Nanoallotropes, or allotropes of nanomaterials, are nanoporous materials that have the same chemical composition (e.g., Au), but differ in their architecture at the nanoscale (that is, on a scale 10 to 100 times the dimensions of individual atoms). Such nanoallotropes may help create ultra-small electronic devices and find other industrial applications. The different nanoscale architectures translate into different properties, as was demonstrated for surface-enhanced Raman scattering performed on several different nanoallotropes of gold. A two-step method for generating nanoallotropes was also created. + +See also +Isomer +Polymorphism (materials science) + +Notes + +References + +External links + +Allotropes – Chemistry Encyclopedia + + +Chemistry +Inorganic chemistry +Physical chemistry +Agathocles (, Agathoklḗs; 361–289 BC) was a Greek tyrant of Syracuse (317–289 BC) and self-styled king of Sicily (304–289 BC). + +Biography +Agathocles was born at Thermae Himeraeae (modern name Termini Imerese), Magna Graecia, in Sicily. The son of a potter who had moved to Syracuse in about 343 BC, he learned his father's trade, but afterwards entered the army along with his brother Antander. In 333 BC he married the widow of his patron Damas, a distinguished and wealthy citizen. He was twice banished for attempting to overthrow the oligarchical party in Syracuse. + +In 317 BC he returned with an army of mercenaries under a solemn oath to observe the democratic constitution which was established after they took the city. Having massacred the oligarchs and the richest of the citizenry, he thus made himself master of Syracuse, and he created a strong army and fleet and subdued the greater part of Sicily. + +War with Carthage followed. In 311 BC Agathocles was defeated in the Battle of the Himera River and besieged in Syracuse. In 310 BC he made a desperate effort to break through the blockade and attack Carthage. He landed at Cape Bon in August 310 BC, and was able to defeat the Carthaginians for the first time, and establish a camp near Tunis. He then turned east, and tried to take over trading coastal cities such as Neapolis and Hadrumetum, and on this occasion concluded an alliance with Aelymas, king of the Libyans according to Diodorus of Sicily, in an attempt to surround and isolate Carthage. After capturing Hadrumetum, Thapsus and other coastal towns, Agathocles turned his attention to central Tunisia. Before or during this campaign, he broke his alliance with Ailymas, whom he pursued and killed, but he kept his Numidian army, including war chariots they built. + +In 309/8 BC, Agathocles began trying to sway Ophellas, ruler of Cyrenaica, as he was likely to prove a useful ally in Agathocles' war against the Carthaginians. In order to gain his allegiance he promised to cede to Ophellas whatever conquests their combined forces might make in Africa, reserving to himself only the possession of Sicily. Ophellas gathered a powerful army from the homeland of his wife Euthydike (a descendant of Miltiades), Athens, where many citizens felt disgruntled after having lost their voting rights. Despite the natural obstacles which presented themselves on his route, Ophellas succeeded in reaching the Carthaginian territories after a toilsome and perilous march of more than two months. He was received by Agathocles with every demonstration of friendship, and the two armies encamped near each other, but a few days later Agathocles betrayed his new ally, by attacking the camp of the Cyrenaeans and having Ophellas killed. The Cyrenean troops, left without a leader, went over to Agathocles. + +Following several victories he was at last completely defeated (307 BC) and fled secretly to Sicily. After concluding peace with Carthage in 306 BC, Agathocles styled himself king of Sicily in 304 BC, and established his rule over the Greek cities of the island more firmly than ever. A peace treaty with Carthage left him in control of Sicily east of the Halycus River. Even in his old age he displayed the same restless energy, and is said to have been contemplating a fresh attack on Carthage at the time of his death. + +His last years were plagued by ill-health and the turbulence of his grandson Archagathus, at whose instigation he is said to have been poisoned; according to others, he died a natural death. He was a born leader of mercenaries, and, although he did not shrink from cruelty to gain his ends, he afterwards showed himself a mild and popular "tyrant". Agathocles restored the Syracusan democracy on his death bed and did not want his sons to succeed him as king. + +Agathocles was married three times. His first wife, by whom he had two sons, was the widow of his patron Damas, Archagathus and his brother, who were both murdered in 307 BC. His second wife was Alcia and they had a daughter called Lanassa, who married as the second wife of King Pyrrhus of Epirus, and a son, Agathocles, who was murdered in a succession dispute shortly before his father's death. His third wife was the Greek Ptolemaic Princess Theoxena, who was the second daughter of Berenice I from her first husband Philip and was a stepdaughter of Ptolemy I Soter. Theoxena bore Agathocles two children: Archagathus and Theoxena. Theoxena survived Agathocles. He had further descendants from his second and third marriage. + +Legacy +Agathocles was cited as an example "Of those who become princes through their crimes" in chapter 8 of Niccolò Machiavelli's treatise on politics - The Prince (1513). +He was described as behaving as a criminal at every stage of his career. Machiavelli claimed: + +Machiavelli goes on to reason that Agathocles' success, in contrast to other criminal tyrants, was due to his ability to commit his crimes quickly and ruthlessly, and states that cruelties are best used when they + +However, he came to "glory" as much as he did brutality by repelling invading Carthaginians and winning the loyalty of the denizens of his land. + +Family tree of Agathocles + +Primary sources + Diodorus Siculus Library of History Books 19–21. + Justin, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus Book 22. + Polyaenus 5.3 + Polybius 9.23 + +References + +Cited sources + +Bibliography + +Further reading + +External links + +Coinage of Agathocles +Agathocles- Encyclopædia Britannica +Agathocles of Syracuse- Ancient History Encyclopedia + +|width=25% align=center|Preceded by:oligarchy position previously held by Timoleon in 337 BC +|width=25% align=center|Tyrant of Syracuse317 BC289 BC +|width=25% align=center|Succeeded by:Hicetas +|- + +361 BC births +289 BC deaths +Ancient Greek generals +Sicilian tyrants +4th-century BC Syracusans +Ancient Himeraeans +Greek exiles +3rd-century BC Syracusans +4th-century BC Greek monarchs +3rd-century BC monarchs +People of the Sicilian Wars +The economy of Alberta is the sum of all economic activity in Alberta, Canada's fourth largest province by population. Alberta's GDP in 2018 was CDN$338.2 billion. + +Although Alberta has a presence in many industries such as agriculture, forestry, education, tourism, finance, and manufacturing, the politics and culture of the province have been closely tied to the production of fossil energy since the 1940s. Alberta—with an estimated 1.4 billion cubic metres of unconventional oil resource in the bituminous oil sands—leads Canada as an oil producer. + +In 2018, Alberta's energy sector contributed over $71.5 billion to Canada's nominal gross domestic product. According to Statistics Canada, in May 2018, the oil and gas extraction industry reached its highest proportion of Canada's national GDP since 1985, exceeding 7% and "surpass[ing] banking and insurance" with extraction of non-conventional oil from the oilsands reaching an "impressive", all-time high in May 2018. With conventional oil extraction "climbed up to the highs from 2007", the demand for Canadian oil was strong in May. + +From 1990 to 2003, Alberta's economy grew by 57% compared to 43% for all of Canada—the strongest economic growth of any region in Canada. In 2006 Alberta's per capita GDP was higher than all US states, and one of the highest figures in the world. In 2006, the deviation from the national average was the largest for any province in Canadian history. Alberta's per capita GDP in 2007 was by far the highest of any province in Canada at C$74,825 (approx. US$75,000). Alberta's per capita GDP in 2007 was 61% higher than the Canadian average of C$46,441 and more than twice that of all the Maritime provinces. From 2004 to 2014 Alberta's "exports of commodities rose 91%, reaching $121 billion in 2014" and 500,000 new jobs were created. In 2014, Alberta's real GDP by expenditure grew by 4.8%, the strongest growth rate among the provinces." In 2017, Alberta's real per capita GDP—the economic output per person—was $71,092, compared to the Canadian average of $47,417. In 2016, Alberta's A grade on its income per capita was based on the fact that it was almost "identical" to that of the "top peer country"—Ireland. + +The energy industry provided 7.7% of all jobs in Alberta in 2013, and 140,300 jobs representing 6.1% of total employment of 2,286,900 in Alberta in 2017. The unemployment rate in Alberta peaked in November 2016 at 9.1%. Its lowest point in a ten-year period from July 2009 to July 2019, was in September 2013 at 4.3%. The unemployment rate in the spring of 2019 in Alberta was 6.7% with 21,000 jobs added in April. By July 2019, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate had increased to 7.0%. + +By August 2019, the employment number in Alberta was 2,344,000, following the loss of 14,000 full-time jobs in July, which represented the "largest decline" in Canada according to Statistics Canada. + +Beginning in June 2014, the record high volume of worldwide oil inventories in storage—referred to as a global oil glut—caused crude oil prices to collapse at near ten-year low prices. By 2016 West Texas Intermediate (WTI)—the benchmark light, sweet crude oil—reached its lowest price in ten years—US$26.55. In 2012 the price of WTI had reached US$125 and in 2014 the price was $100. By February 2016 the price of Western Canadian Select WCS—the Alberta benchmark heavy crude oil—was US$14.10—the cheapest oil in the world. Alberta boom years from 2010 to 2014 ended with a "long and deep" recession that began in 2014, driven by low commodity pricing ended in 2017. By 2019—five years later—Alberta was still in recovery. Overall, there were approximately 35,000 jobs lost in mining, oil and gas alone. Since 2014, sectors that offered high-wage employment of $30 and above, saw about 100,000 jobs disappear—"construction (down more than 45,000 jobs), mining, oil and gas (down nearly 35,000), and professional services (down 18,000)," according to the economist, Trevor Tombe. There was a decrease in wages, in the number of jobs, and in the number of hours worked. The total loss of incomes from "workers, business, and government" amounted to about 20 percent or about CDN$75 billion less per year. Since 2011, prices have increased in Alberta by 18%. However, a typical worker in Alberta still earns more than a typical worker in all the other provinces and territories. + +By March 2016, Alberta lost over 100,000 jobs in the oil patch. In spite of the surplus with the low price of WCS in 2015—99% of Canada's oil exports went to the United States and in 2015 Canada was still their largest exporter of total petroleum—3,789 thousand bpd in September—3,401 thousand bpd in October up from 3,026 thousand bpd in September 2014. By April 2019, two of the major oil companies, still had thousands of workers—Suncor had about 12,500 employees and Canadian Natural Resources had about 10,000 full-time employees. + +Alberta has the "lowest taxes overall of any province or territory" in Canada, due in part to having high resource tax revenues. However, overall tax revenues from oil royalties and other non-renewable sources has fallen steeply along with the drop in global oil prices. For example, in 2013, oil tax revenues brought in 9.58 billion, or 21% of the total Provincial budget, whereas in 2018 it had fallen to just 5.43 billion, or 11% of the Provincial budget. + +In the spring of 2020, Alberta's economy suffered from the economic fallout of both the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war." + + + +Data + +Current overview +According to ATB Financial's Vice President and Chief Economist—Todd Hirsch, who spoke during a April 2, 2020, webinar hosted by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta and its "economic fallout will permanently reshape our economy." Hirsch said that he expects that the resulting contraction in Alberta's economy will be the "worst...Alberta has ever seen." + +The global price of oil decreased dramatically because of the combination of COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war. In March 2020, the United States benchmark crude oil EWest Texas Intermediate (WTI)—upon which Alberta's benchmark crude oil Western Canadian Select (WCS) price is based—dropped to an historical below of US$20 a barrel. The price of WCS bitumen-blend crude was US$3.82 per barrel by the end of March. +In 2018, the low price of heavy oil negatively impacted Alberta's economic growth. + +In November 2018, the price of Western Canadian Select (WCS), the benchmark for Canadian heavy crude, hit its record low of less than US$14 a barrel, as a "surge of production met limited pipeline space causing bottlenecks." Previously, from 2008 through 2018, WCS had sold at an average discount of US$17 against West Texas Intermediate (WTI)—the U.S. crude oil benchmark, but by the fall of 2018, the differential between WCS and WTI reached a record of over US$50 per barrel. In response, then Premier Rachel Notley made a December 2 announcement of a mandatory cut of 8.7% in Alberta's oil production. By December 12, after the announcement of the government's "mandated oil output curtailment", the price of WCS rose c. 70% to c. US$41 a barrel with the WTI differential falling from US50 to c. US$11., according to the Financial Post. The WCS price rose to US$28.60 by January 2019, as the international price of oil had begun to recover from the December "sharp downturn" caused by the ongoing China–U.S. trade war In March 2019, the differential of WTI over WCS decreased to $US9.94 as the price of WTI dropped to US$58.15 a barrel, which is 7.5% lower than it was in March 2018, while the price of WCS increased to US$48.21 a barrel which is 35.7% higher than in March 2018. According to TD Economics' September 2019 report, the government's "mandated oil output curtailment", has resulted in a sustained rebound in WCS prices. However, investment and spending were low in the province. The loss of 14, 000 of the full-time jobs out of 2,344,000 in Alberta in July 2019, represented the "largest decline" in employment in Canada for that month, according to Statistics Canada. + +In 1985, Alberta's energy industry accounted for 36.1% of the provinces $66.8 billion GDP. In 2006, the mining, oil and gas extraction industry accounted for 29.1% of GDP; by 2012 it was 23.3%; in 2013, it was 24.6% of Alberta's $331.9 billion GDP, and in 2016, the mining, oil and gas extraction industry accounted for about 27.9% of Alberta's GDP. + +By comparison, "In 2017, the federal, provincial and territorial governments spent some $724 billion on programs and more than $58 billion on interest payments on their public debt, which, combined, amounted to about 36 percent of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP). Their combined borrowing that year was $27 billion, and their net financial debt at year-end stood at around $1.2 trillion, about 54 percent of GDP." + +In his July 2019 CBC News article, economist Trevor Tombe said that prior to the 2014 recession, Albertans had experienced boom years from 2010 to 2014, with workers earnings reaching exceptional highs. The recession, which "ended over two years ago" in 2017, was "long and deep". By 2019—five years later—the province was still in recovery. Overall, there were approximately 35,000 jobs lost in mining, oil and gas alone. By 2019, the slow recovery and low earnings growth have resulted in workers getting "fewer hours, fewer jobs and, in some cases, lower wages". Tombe said that from 2014 to 2016, Alberta earned CDN$75 billion less per year with the "total incomes of workers, business, and government combined [falling] by nearly 20 per cent". Tombes said that relative to Alberta's "growth path prior to the recession" Alberta's economy is "down $100 billion per year", compared to what was anticipated. Tombes said that the "boom years that ended in 2014 were the outliers" and the lower earnings in 2019 reflect a "natural adjustment that's moving Alberta to a more normal and balanced labour market." While earnings are lower, because of inflation, prices have increased in Alberta by 18% since 2011. "The $1,183 per week a typical worker earns today goes about as far as $1,000 did nearly a decade ago.", according to Tombe. In spite of the typical worker in Alberta earns $1,183 per week compared to Saskatchewan, where the typical worker earns $1,070 per week. The weekly income a typical worker in all the other Canadian provinces and territories is less than that. + +Since 2014, sectors that offered high-wage employment of $30 and above, saw about 100,000 jobs disappear—"construction (down more than 45,000 jobs), mining, oil and gas (down nearly 35,000), and professional services (down 18,000)." + +Alberta's deficit +Alberta's net debt was $27.5 billion by March 2019, which represents the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year (FY). By November 2018, Alberta's government expenditures were $55 billion while the revenue was about $48 billion, according to a report by the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy (SPP) economist, Trevor Tombe. Capital investment amounted to $4.3 billion. The provincial government employs more than "210,000 full-time equivalent workers across hundreds of departments, boards and other entities." Tombe, cited a $8.3 billion deficit in his November report, prior to the release in February 2019 of the corrected deficit figures, which was "$1.9 billion less in 2018-19 than originally expected", —$6.9-billion deficit instead of the original $8.8-billion". + +Alberta's current deficit is "unusual for the province", says Tombe in 2018. During the financial crisis, Alberta's "net asset position equivalent to 15 per cent of GDP"−it "owned more financial assets than it owed in debt." + +In 2009 Alberta had $31.7 billion in financial assets. + +Alberta's credit rating +On December 3, 2019, Moody's downgraded Alberta's credit rating from Aa2 stable from Aa1 negative and "downgraded the long-term debt ratings of the Alberta Capital Finance Authority and the long-term issuer rating of ATB Financial to Aa2 from Aa1." The agency said that there is a "structural weakness in the provincial economy that remains concentrated and dependent on non-renewable resources ... and remains pressured by a lack of sufficient pipeline capacity to transport oil efficiently with no near-term expectation of a significant rebound in oil-related investments...Alberta's oil and gas sector is carbon-intensive and Alberta's greenhouse gas emissions are the highest among provinces. Alberta is also susceptible to natural disasters including wildfires and floods which could lead to significant mitigation costs by the province." + +Alberta's real per capita GDP +In 2006 Alberta's per capita GDP was higher than all US states, and one of the highest figures in the world. In 2006, the deviation from the national average was the largest for any province in Canadian history. In 2007, Alberta's per capita GDP in 2007 was C$74,825 (approx. US$75,000)—by far the highest of any Canadian province—61% higher than the Canadian average of C$46,441 and more than twice that of all the Maritime provinces. In 2017, Alberta's real per capita GDP—the economic output per person—was $71,092, compared to the Canadian average of $47,417. Alberta's A grade on its income per capita was based on the fact that it was almost "identical" to that of the "top peer country" in 2016, Ireland. + +In 2017, Alberta's real per capita GDP—the economic output per person—was $71,092 compared to the Canadian average output per person of $47, 417 and Prince Edward Island at $32,123 per person. Since at least 1997, Alberta's per capita GDP has been higher than that of any other province. In 2014, Alberta's reached its highest gap ever—$30,069—between its real capita GDP and the Canadian average. + +According to the Conference Board of Canada, in 2016 Alberta earned an "A grade with income per capita almost identical to the top peer country, Ireland." In 2016 income per capita in Alberta was $59,259. + +Alberta's GDP compared to other provinces +A table listing annual ""Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by industry, provinces and territories (x 1,000,000)." from 2014 through 2018 with value chained to 2012 dollars. + +Source: Statistics Canada: GDP (totals), + +Economic geography + +Alberta has a small internal market, and it is relatively distant from major world markets, despite good transportation links to the rest of Canada and to the United States to the south. Alberta is located in the northwestern quadrant of North America, in a region of low population density called the Interior Plains. Alberta is landlocked, and separated by a series of mountain ranges from the nearest outlets to the Pacific Ocean, and by the Canadian Shield from ports on the Lakehead or Hudson Bay. From these ports to major populations centres and markets in Europe or Asia is several thousands of kilometers. The largest population clusters of North America (the Boston – Washington, San Francisco - San Diego, Chicago – Pittsburgh, and Quebec City – Windsor Corridors) are all thousands of kilometers away from Alberta. Partly for this reason, Alberta has never developed a large presence in the industries that have traditionally started industrialization in other places (notably the original Industrial Revolution in Great Britain) but which require large labour forces, and large internal markets or easy transportation to export markets, namely textiles, metallurgy, or transportation-related manufacturing (automotives, ships, or train cars). + +Agriculture has been a key industry since the 1870s. The climate is dry, temperate, and continental, with extreme variations between seasons. Productive soils are found in most of the southern half of the province (excluding the mountains), and in certain parts of the north. Agriculture on a large scale is practiced further north in Alberta than anywhere else in North America, extending into the Peace River country above the 55th parallel north. Generally, however, northern Alberta (and areas along the Alberta Rockies) is forested land and logging is more important than agriculture there. Agriculture is divided into primarily field crops in the east, livestock in the west, and a mixture in between and in the parkland belt in the near north. + +Conventional oil and gas fields are found throughout the province on an axis running from the northwest to the southeast. Oil sands are found in the northeast, especially around Fort McMurray (the Athabasca Oil Sands). + +Because of its (relatively) economically isolated location, Alberta relies heavily on transportation links with the rest of the world. Alberta's historical development has been largely influenced by the development of new transportation infrastructure, (see "trends" below). Alberta is now served by two major transcontinental railways (CN and CP), by three major highway connections to the Pacific (the Trans-Canada via Kicking Horse Pass, the Yellowhead via Yellowhead Pass and the Crowsnest via Crowsnest Pass), and one to the United States (Interstate 15), as well as two international airports (Calgary and Edmonton). Also, Alberta is connected to the TransCanada pipeline system (natural gas) to Eastern Canada, the Northern Border Pipeline (gas), Alliance Pipeline (gas) and Enbridge Pipeline System (oil) to the Eastern United States, the Gas Transmission Northwest and Northwest Pipeline (gas) to the Western United States, and the McNeill HVDC Back-to-back station (electric power) to Saskatchewan. + +Economic regions and cities +Since the days of early agricultural settlement, the majority of Alberta's population has been concentrated in the parkland belt (mixed forest-grassland), a boomerang-shaped strip of land extending along the North Saskatchewan River from Lloydminster to Edmonton and then along the Rocky Mountain foothills south to Calgary. This area is slightly more humid and treed than the drier prairie (grassland) region called Palliser's Triangle to its south, and large areas of the south (the "Special Areas") were depopulated during the droughts of the 1920s and 30s. The chernozem (black soil) of the parkland region is more agriculturally productive than the red and grey soils to the south. Urban development has also been most advanced in the parkland belt. Edmonton and Red Deer are parkland cities, while Calgary is on the parkland-prairie fringe. Lethbridge and Medicine Hat are prairie cities. Grande Prairie lies in the Peace River Country a parkland region (with isolated patches of prairie, hence the name) in the northwest isolated from the rest of the parkland by the forested Swan Hills. Fort McMurray is the only urbanized population centre in the boreal forest which covers much of the northern half of the province. + +Calgary and Edmonton +The Calgary and Edmonton regions, by far the province's two largest metropolitan regions, account for the majority of the province's population. They are relatively close to each other by the standards of Western Canada and distant from other metropolitan regions such as Vancouver or Winnipeg. This has produced a history of political and economic rivalry and comparison but also economic integration that has created an urbanized corridor between the two cities. + +The economic profile of the two regions is slightly different. Both cities are mature service economies built on a base of resource extraction in their hinterlands. However, Calgary is predominant in hosting the regional and national headquarters of oil and gas exploration and drilling companies. Edmonton skews much more towards governments, universities and hospitals as large employers, while Edmonton's suburban fringes (e.g. Fort Saskatchewan, Nisku, Strathcona County (Refinery Row), Leduc, Beaumont, Acheson) are home to most of the province's manufacturing (much of it related to oil and gas). + +Calgary-Edmonton Corridor +The Calgary-Edmonton Corridor is the most urbanized region in the province and one of the densest in Canada. Measured from north to south, the region covers a distance of roughly . In 2001, the population of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor was 2.15 million (72% of Alberta's population). It is also one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. A 2003 study by TD Bank Financial Group found the corridor was the only Canadian urban centre to amass a U.S. level of wealth while maintaining a Canadian-style quality of life, offering universal health care benefits. The study found GDP per capita in the corridor was 10% above average U.S. metropolitan areas and 40% above other Canadian cities at that time. + +Calgary–Edmonton rivalry + +Seeing Calgary and Edmonton as part of a single economic region as the TD study did in 2003 was novel. The more traditional view had been to see the two cities as economic rivals. For example, in the 1980 both cities claimed to be the "Oil Capital of Canada". + +Background + +Alberta has always been an export-oriented economy. In line with Harold Innis' "Staples Thesis", the economy has changed substantially as different export commodities have risen or fallen in importance. In sequence, the most important products have been: fur, wheat and beef, and oil and gas. + +The development of transportation in Alberta has been crucial to its historical economic development. The North American fur trade relied on birch-bark canoes, York boats, and Red River carts on buffalo trails to move furs out of, and European trade goods into, the region. Immigration into the province was eased tremendously by the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway's transcontinental line in 1880s. Commercial farming became viable in the area once the grain trade had developed technologies to handle the bulk export of grain, especially hopper cars and grain elevators. Oil and gas exports have been possible because of increasing pipeline technology. + +Prior to the 1950s, Alberta was a primarily agricultural economy, based on the export of wheat, beef, and a few other commodities. The health of economy was closely bound up with the price of wheat. + +In 1947 a major oil field was discovered near Edmonton. It was not the first petroleum find in Alberta, but it was large enough to significantly alter the economy of the province (and coincided with growing American demand for energy). Since that time, Alberta's economic fortunes have largely tracked the price of oil, and increasingly natural gas prices. When oil prices spiked during the 1967 Oil Embargo, 1973 oil crisis, and 1979 energy crisis, Alberta's economy boomed. However, during the 1980s oil glut Alberta's economy suffered. Alberta boomed once again during the 2003-2008 oil price spike. In July 2008 the price of oil peaked and began to decline and Alberta's economy soon followed suit, with unemployment doubling within a year. By 2009 with natural gas prices at a long-term low, Alberta's economy was in poor health compared to before, although still relatively better than many other comparable jurisdictions. By 2012 natural gas prices were at a ten-year low, the Canadian dollar was high, and oil prices recovered until June 2014. + +The spin-offs from petroleum allowed Alberta to develop many other industries. Oilpatch-related manufacturing is an obvious example, but financial services and government services have also benefited from oil money. + +A comparison of the development of Alberta's less oil and gas-endowed neighbours, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, reveals the role petroleum has played. Alberta was once the smallest of the three Prairie Provinces by population in the early 20th century, but by 2009, Alberta's population was 3,632,483 or approximately three times as much as either Saskatchewan (1,023,810) or Manitoba (1,213,815). + +Employment +Alberta's economy is a highly developed one in which most people work in services such as healthcare, government, or retail. Primary industries are also of great importance, however. + +By March 2016 the unemployment rate in Alberta rose to 7.9%— its "highest level since April 1995 and the first time the province’s rate has surpassed the national average since December 1988." There were 21,200 fewer jobs than February 2015. The unemployment rate was expected to average 7.4% in 2016. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) claimed that Alberta lost 35,000 jobs in 2015–25,000 from the oil services sector and 10,000 from exploration and production. Full-time employment increased by 10,000 in February 2016 after falling 20,000 in both December 2015 and January 2016. The natural resources industry lost 7,400 jobs in February. "Year-over-year (y/y), the goods sector lost 56,000 jobs, while the services sector gained 34,800." In 2015 Alberta's population increased by 3,900. While Alberta had a reprieve in job loss in February 2016—up 1,400 jobs after losing jobs in October, November, December 2015 and January 2016—Ontario lost 11,200 jobs, Saskatchewan lost 7,800 jobs and New Brunswick lost 5,700 jobs. + +The unemployment rate in spring 2019 in Alberta was 6.7% with 21,000 jobs added in April; in Calgary it was 7.4%, in Edmonton it was 6.9%, in Northern Alberta it was 11.2%, and in Southern Alberta it was 7.8%. By July 2019, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate had increased to 7.0%, which represented an increase of 0.3% from the previous year. The unemployment rate in Alberta peaked in November 2016 at 9.1%. Its lowest point in a ten-year period from July 2009 to July 2019 was in September 2013 at 4.3%. + +By August 2019, the employment number in Alberta was 2,344,000, following the loss of 14,000 full-time jobs in July, which represented that the "largest decline" in Canada according to Statistics Canada. + +Employment by industry, Alberta – seasonally adjusted (000s) + +Extraction industries +According to the Government of Alberta, the "mining and oil and gas extraction industry accounted for 6.1% of total employment in Alberta in 2017". By April 2019, there were about 145,100 people working directly with the oil and gas industry. In 2013, there were 171,200 people employed in the mining and oil and gas extraction industry. + +In 2007 there were 146,900 people working in the mining and oil and gas extraction industry. + Oil and Gas Extraction industry = 69,900 + Support Activities for Mining & Oil & Gas Extraction (primarily oil and gas exploration and drilling) = 71,700 + Mining other than oil and gas (mainly coal and mineral mining & quarrying) = 5,100 + +Largest employers of Alberta +According to Alberta Venture magazine's list of the 50 largest employers in the province, the largest employers are: + +Sectors + +Oil and gas extraction industries + +In 2018, Alberta's energy sector contributed over $71.5 billion to Canada's nominal gross domestic product. In 2006, it accounted for 29.1% of Alberta's GDP; by 2012 it was 23.3%; in 2013, it was 24.6%, and in 2016 it was 27.9%. According to Statistics Canada, in May 2018, the oil and gas extraction industry reached its highest proportion of Canada's national GDP since 1985, exceeding 7% and "surpass[ing] banking and insurance". with extraction of non-conventional oil from the oilsands reaching an "impressive", all-time high in May 2018. With conventional oil extraction "climbed up to the highs from 2007", the demand for Canadian oil was strong in May. + +Alberta is the largest producer of conventional crude oil, synthetic crude, natural gas and gas products in the country. Alberta is the world's 2nd largest exporter of natural gas and the 4th largest producer. Two of the largest producers of petrochemicals in North America are located in central and north central Alberta. In both Red Deer and Edmonton, world class polyethylene and vinyl manufacturers produce products shipped all over the world, and Edmonton's oil refineries provide the raw materials for a large petrochemical industry to the east of Edmonton. Since the early 1940s, Alberta had supplied oil and gas to the rest of Canada and the United States. The Athabasca River region produces oil for internal and external use. The Athabasca Oil Sands contain the largest proven reserves of oil in the world outside Saudi Arabia. + +The Athabasca Oil Sands (sometimes known as the Athabasca Tar sands) have estimated unconventional oil reserves approximately equal to the conventional oil reserves of the rest of the world, estimated to be . With the development of new extraction methods such as steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), which was developed in Alberta, bitumen and synthetic crude oil can be produced at costs close to those of conventional crude. Many companies employ both conventional strip mining and non-conventional in situ methods to extract the bitumen from the oil sands. With current technology and at current prices, about of bitumen are recoverable. Fort McMurray, one of Canada's fastest growing cities, has grown enormously in recent years because of the large corporations which have taken on the task of oil production. As of late 2006 there were over $100 billion in oil sands projects under construction or in the planning stages in northeastern Alberta. + +Another factor determining the viability of oil extraction from the oil sands was the price of oil. The oil price increases since 2003 made it more than profitable to extract this oil, which in the past would give little profit or even a loss. + +Alberta's economy was negatively impacted by the 2015-2016 oil glut with a record high volume of worldwide oil inventories in storage, with global crude oil collapsing at near ten-year low prices. The United States doubled its 2008 production levels mainly due to substantial improvements in shale "fracking" technology, OPEC members consistently exceeded their production ceiling, and China experienced a marked slowdown in economic growth and crude oil imports. + +Mining and Oil and Gas Extraction Industry (2017) + + +Data Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, CANSIM Table 282–0008, 2017 "Employment share is obtained by dividing the number of employment in this industry by total employment in Alberta." + +Natural gas +Natural gas has been found at several points, and in 1999, the production of natural gas liquids (ethane, propane, and butanes) totalled , valued at $2.27 billion. Alberta also provides 13% of all the natural gas used in the United States. + +Notable gas reserves were discovered in the 1883 near Medicine Hat. The town of Medicine Hat began using gas for lighting the town, and supplying light and fuel for the people, and a number of industries using the gas for manufacturing. + +One of North America's benchmarks is Alberta gas-trading price—the AECO "C" spot price. + +In 2018, 69% of the marketable natural gas in Canada was produced in Alberta. Forty nine per cent of Alberta's natural gas production is consumed in Alberta. In Alberta, the average household uses of natural gas annually. Domestic demand for natural gas is divided across sectors, with the highest demand—83% coming from "industrial, electrical generation, transportation and other sectors," and 17 percent going towards residential and commercial sectors. +Of the provinces, Alberta is the largest consumer of natural gas at 3.9 billion cubic feet per day. + +By August 2019, the Financial Post said that "AECO daily and monthly natural gas prices" were at the lowest they have been since 1992. Canada's largest natural gas producer, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., announced in early August that it had "shut in gas production of 27,000 million cubic feet per day because of depressed prices. Previously natural gas pipeline drilled in the southern Alberta and shipped to markets in Eastern Canada. By 2019, the entire natural gas industry had was primarily operating in northwestern Alberta and northeastern B.C., which resulted in strained infrastructure. New systems will not be complete until 2021 or 2023. In September 25, 2017 Alberta's benchmark AECO natural gas prices fell into "negative territory – "meaning producers have had to pay customers to take their gas". It happened again in early October with the price per gigajoule dropping to -7 cents. TransCanada (now TC Energy Corp)—which "owns and operates Alberta's "largest natural gas gathering and transmission system, interrupted its pipeline service in the fall of 2017 to complete field maintenance on the Alberta system. In July 2018, RS Energy Group's energy analyst Samir Kayande, said that faced with a glut of natural gas across North America, the continental market price was $3 per gigajoule. Alberta is "awash" with natural gas but faces pipeline bottlenecks. CEOs of nine Alberta natural gas producers requested the Kenney government to mandate production cuts to deal with the crisis. On June 30, the AECO price of gas dropped to 11 cents per gigajoule, because of maintenance issues with the pipeline giant TC Energy Corp. + +In 2003 Alberta produced of marketable natural gas. That year, 62% of Alberta's natural gas was shipped to the United States, 24% was used within Alberta, and 14% was used in the rest of Canada. In 2006, Alberta consumed of natural gas. The rest was exported across Canada and to the United States. Royalties to Alberta from natural gas and its byproducts are larger than royalties from crude oil and bitumen. In 2006, there were 13,473 successful natural gas wells drilled in Alberta: 12,029 conventional gas wells and 1,444 coalbed methane wells. There may be up to of coalbed methane in Alberta, although it is unknown how much of this gas might be recoverable. Alberta has one of the most extensive natural gas systems in the world as part of its energy infrastructure, with of energy related pipelines. + +Coal + +Coal has been mined in Alberta since the late 19th century. Over 1800 mines have operated in Alberta since then. + +The coal industry was vital to the early development of several communities, especially those in the foothills and along deep river valleys where coal was close to the surface. + +Alberta is still a major coal producer, every two weeks Alberta produces enough coal to fill the Sky Dome in Toronto. + +Much of that coal is burned in Alberta for electricity generation. By 2008, Alberta used over 25 million tonnes of coal annually to generate electricity. However, Alberta is set to retire coal power by 2023, ahead of 2030 provincial deadline. + +Alberta has vast coal resources and 70 per cent of Canada's coal reserves are located in Alberta. This amounts to 33.6 Gigatonnes. + +Vast beds of coal are found extending for hundreds of miles, a short distance below the surface of the plains. The coal belongs to the Cretaceous beds, and while not so heavy as that of the Coal Measures in England is of excellent quality. In the valley of the Bow River, alongside the Canadian Pacific Railway, valuable beds of anthracite coal are still worked. The usual coal deposits of the area of bituminous or semi-bituminous coal. These are largely worked at Lethbridge in southern Alberta and Edmonton in the centre of the province. Many other parts of the province have pits for private use. + +Electricity + +, Alberta's generating capacity was 16,261 MW, and Alberta has about of transmission lines. + +Alberta has 1491 megawatts of wind power capacity. + +Production of electricity in Alberta in 2016 by source: + +Alberta has added 9,000 MW of new supply since 1998. + +Peak for power use in one day was set on July 9, 2015 – 10,520 MW. + +Mineral mining +Building stones mined in Alberta include Rundle stone, and Paskapoo sandstone. + +Diamonds were first found in Alberta in 1958, and many stones have been found since, although to date no large-scale mines have been developed. + +Manufacturing +The Edmonton area, and in particular Nisku is a major centre for manufacturing oil and gas related equipment. As well Edmonton's Refinery Row is home to a petrochemical industry. + +According to a 2016 Statistics Canada report Alberta's manufacturing sales year-over-year sales fell 13.2 per cent, with a loss of almost four per cent from December to January. Alberta's economy continued to shrink because of the collapse of the oil and gas sector. The petroleum and coal product manufacturing industry is now third— behind food and chemicals. + +Biotechnology +Several companies and services in the biotech sector are clustered around the University of Alberta, for example ColdFX. + +Food processing +Owing to the strength of agriculture, food processing was once a major part of the economies of Edmonton and Calgary, but this sector has increasingly moved to smaller centres such as Brooks, the home of XL Foods, responsible for one third of Canada's beef processing in 2011. + +Transportation + +Edmonton is a major distribution centre for northern communities, hence the nickname "Gateway to the North". Edmonton is one of CN Rail's most important hubs. Since 1996, Canadian Pacific Railway has its headquarters in downtown Calgary. + +WestJet, Canada's second largest air carrier, is headquartered in Calgary, by Calgary International Airport, which serves as the airline's primary hub. Prior to its dissolution, Canadian Airlines was headquartered in Calgary by the airport. Prior to its dissolution, Air Canada subsidiary Zip was headquartered in Calgary. + +Agriculture and forestry + +Agriculture + +In the past, cattle, horses, and sheep were reared in the southern prairie region on ranches or smaller holdings. Currently Alberta produces cattle valued at over $3.3 billion, as well as other livestock in lesser quantities. In this region irrigation is widely used. Wheat, accounting for almost half of the $2 billion agricultural economy, is supplemented by canola, barley, rye, sugar beets, and other mixed farming. In 2011, Alberta producers seeded an estimated total of to spring wheat, durum, barley, oats, mixed grains, triticale, canola and dry peas. Of the total seeded area, 94 per cent was harvested as grains and oilseeds and six per cent as greenfeed and silage. Saudi Arabia is a major export target especially for wheat and processed potato products. SA having decided to phase out their own forage and cereal production, Alberta expects this to be an opportunity to fill livestock feed demand in the kingdom. + +Agriculture has a significant position in the province's economy. Over three million cattle are residents of the province at one time or another, and Albertan beef has a healthy worldwide market. Although beef could also be a major export to Saudi Arabia, as with wheat and potatoes above, market access is lacking at the moment. Nearly one half of all Canadian beef is produced in Alberta. Alberta is one of the prime producers of plains buffalo (bison) for the consumer market. Sheep for wool and lamb are also raised. + +Wheat and canola are primary farm crops, with Alberta leading the provinces in spring wheat production, with other grains also prominent. Much of the farming is dryland farming, often with fallow seasons interspersed with cultivation. Continuous cropping (in which there is no fallow season) is gradually becoming a more common mode of production because of increased profits and a reduction of soil erosion. Across the province, the once common grain elevator is slowly being lost as rail lines are decreased and farmers now truck the grain to central points. + +Clubroot (Plasmodiophora brassicae) is a costly disease of Brassicaceae here including canola. In several experiments by Peng et al., out of fungicides, biofungicides, inoculation with beneficial microbes, cultivar resistance, and crop rotation, only genetic resistance combined with more than two years rotation worked susceptible cultivars rotated with other crops did not produce enough improvement. + +Alberta is the leading beekeeping province of Canada, with some beekeepers wintering hives indoors in specially designed barns in southern Alberta, then migrating north during the summer into the Peace River valley where the season is short but the working days are long for honeybees to produce honey from clover and fireweed. Hybrid canola also requires bee pollination, and some beekeepers service this need. + +Forestry + +The vast northern forest reserves of softwood allow Alberta to produce large quantities of lumber, oriented strand board (OSB) and plywood, and several plants in northern Alberta supply North America and the Pacific Rim nations with bleached wood pulp and newsprint. + +In 1999, lumber products from Alberta were valued at $4.1 billion of which 72% were exported around the world. Since forests cover approximately 59% of the province's land area, the government allows about to be harvested annually from the forests on public lands. + +Services +Despite the high profile of the extractive industries, Alberta has a mature economy and most people work in services. In 2014 there were 1,635.8 thousand people employed in the services-producing sector. Since then, the number has steadily increased to 1754.8 thousand jobs by August 2019, which is an increase of 16.7 thousand jobs from August 2018 This includes wholesale and retail trade; transportation and warehousing; finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing; professional, scientific and technical services; business, building and other support services; educational services; health care and social assistance; information, culture and recreation; accommodation and food services; other services (except public administration) and public administration. + +Finance +The TSX Venture Exchange is headquartered in Calgary. The city has the second highest number of corporate head offices in Canada after Toronto, and the financial services industry in Calgary has developed to support them. All major banks including the Big Five maintain corporate offices in Calgary, along with smaller banks such as Equitable Group. Recently there has also been a number of fintech companies founded in Calgary such as the National Digital Asset Exchange and Neo Financial, founded by the Skip-the-Dishes team. + +One of Canada's largest accounting firms, MNP LLP, is also headquartered in Calgary. + +Edmonton hosts the headquarters of the only major Canadian banks west of Toronto: Canadian Western Bank, and ATB Financial, as well as the only province-wide credit union, Servus Credit Union. + +Government +Despite Alberta's reputation as a "small government" province, many health care and education professionals are lured to Alberta from other provinces by the higher wages the Alberta government is able to offer because of oil revenues. In 2014 the median household income in Alberta was $100,000 with the average weekly wage at $1,163—23 per cent higher than the Canadian national average. + +In their May 2018 report co-authored by C. D. Howe Institute's President and CEO, William B.P. Robson, evaluating "the budgets, estimates and public accounts" of 2017/18 fiscal year that were tabled by senior governments in the Canadian provinces and the federal government in terms of reporting financial information, appropriately, with transparency, and in a timely fashion, Alberta and New Brunswick ranked highest. The report also said that, prior to 2016, Alberta had scored poorly in comparison with other provinces, because of "confusing array of "operating," "saving" and "capital" accounts that were not Public Sector Accounting Standards (PSAS) consistent." but since 2016, Alberta has received A-plus grades. The report said that Alberta and New Brunswick in FY2017 provided "straightforward reconciliations of results with budget intentions, their auditors record no reservations, and their budgets and public accounts are timely." + +Technology +Alberta has a burgeoning high tech sector, including prominent technology companies iStockPhoto, Shareworks, Benevity, and Attabotics in Calgary, and Bioware and AltaML in Edmonton. Growth in Calgary's technology sector, particularly at Benevity, fueled predictions of a modest economic recovery in February 2020. + +See also + Economy of Canada + Economy of Lethbridge + Canadian Oil Patch, for the petroleum industry + History of the petroleum industry in Canada + Canada's Global Markets Action Plan + Free trade agreements of Canada + +References + +External links + + CBC Digital Archives - Striking Oil in Alberta +Baron Augustin-Louis Cauchy ( , , ; 21 August 178923 May 1857) was a French mathematician, engineer, and physicist who made pioneering contributions to several branches of mathematics, including mathematical analysis and continuum mechanics. He was one of the first to state and rigorously prove theorems of calculus, rejecting the heuristic principle of the generality of algebra of earlier authors. He (nearly) single-handedly founded complex analysis and the study of permutation groups in abstract algebra. + +A profound mathematician, Cauchy had a great influence over his contemporaries and successors; Hans Freudenthal stated: "More concepts and theorems have been named for Cauchy than for any other mathematician (in elasticity alone there are sixteen concepts and theorems named for Cauchy)." Cauchy was a prolific writer; he wrote approximately eight hundred research articles and five complete textbooks on a variety of topics in the fields of mathematics and mathematical physics. + +Biography + +Youth and education +Cauchy was the son of Louis François Cauchy (1760–1848) and Marie-Madeleine Desestre. Cauchy had two brothers: Alexandre Laurent Cauchy (1792–1857), who became a president of a division of the court of appeal in 1847 and a judge of the court of cassation in 1849, and Eugene François Cauchy (1802–1877), a publicist who also wrote several mathematical works. + +Cauchy married Aloise de Bure in 1818. She was a close relative of the publisher who published most of Cauchy's works. They had two daughters, Marie Françoise Alicia (1819) and Marie Mathilde (1823). + +Cauchy's father was a highly ranked official in the Parisian Police of the +Ancien Régime, but lost this position due to the French Revolution (July 14, 1789), which broke out one month before Augustin-Louis was born. The Cauchy family survived the revolution and the following Reign of Terror (1793–94) by escaping to Arcueil, where Cauchy received his first education, from his father. After the execution of Robespierre (1794), it was safe for the family to return to Paris. There Louis-François Cauchy found himself a new bureaucratic job in 1800, and quickly moved up the ranks. When Napoleon Bonaparte came to power (1799), Louis-François Cauchy was further promoted, and became Secretary-General of the Senate, working directly under Laplace (who is now better known for his work on mathematical physics). The famous mathematician Lagrange was also a friend of the Cauchy family. + +On Lagrange's advice, Augustin-Louis was enrolled in the École Centrale du Panthéon, the best secondary school of Paris at that time, in the fall of 1802. Most of the curriculum consisted of classical languages; the young and ambitious Cauchy, being a brilliant student, won many prizes in Latin and the humanities. In spite of these successes, Augustin-Louis chose an engineering career, and prepared himself for the entrance examination to the École Polytechnique. + +In 1805, he placed second of 293 applicants on this exam and was admitted. One of the main purposes of this school was to give future civil and military engineers a high-level scientific and mathematical education. The school functioned under military discipline, which caused Cauchy some problems in adapting. Nevertheless, he completed the course in 1807, at the age of 18, and went on to the École des Ponts et Chaussées (School for Bridges and Roads). He graduated in civil engineering, with the highest honors. + +Engineering days +After finishing school in 1810, Cauchy accepted a job as a junior engineer in Cherbourg, where Napoleon intended to build a naval base. Here Augustin-Louis stayed for three years, and was assigned the Ourcq Canal project and the Saint-Cloud Bridge project, and worked at the Harbor of Cherbourg. Although he had an extremely busy managerial job, he still found time to prepare three mathematical manuscripts, which he submitted to the Première Classe (First Class) of the Institut de France. Cauchy's first two manuscripts (on polyhedra) were accepted; the third one (on directrices of conic sections) was rejected. + +In September 1812, now 23 years old, Cauchy returned to Paris after becoming ill from overwork. Another reason for his return to the capital was that he was losing interest in his engineering job, being more and more attracted to the abstract beauty of mathematics; in Paris, he would have a much better chance to find a mathematics related position. Therefore, when his health improved in 1813, Cauchy chose not to return to Cherbourg. Although he formally kept his engineering position, he was transferred from the payroll of the Ministry of the Marine to the Ministry of the Interior. The next three years Augustin-Louis was mainly on unpaid sick leave; he spent his time quite fruitfully, working on mathematics (on the related topics of symmetric functions, the symmetric group and the theory of higher-order algebraic equations). He attempted admission to the First Class of the Institut de France but failed on three different occasions between 1813 and 1815. In 1815 Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo, and the newly installed Bourbon king Louis XVIII took the restoration in hand. The Académie des Sciences was re-established in March 1816; Lazare Carnot and Gaspard Monge were removed from this Academy for political reasons, and the king appointed Cauchy to take the place of one of them. The reaction of Cauchy's peers was harsh; they considered the acceptance of his membership in the Academy an outrage, and Cauchy thereby created many enemies in scientific circles. + +Professor at École Polytechnique +In November 1815, Louis Poinsot, who was an associate professor at the École Polytechnique, asked to be exempted from his teaching duties for health reasons. Cauchy was by then a rising mathematical star, who certainly merited a professorship. One of his great successes at that time was the proof of Fermat's polygonal number theorem. He finally quit his engineering job, and received a one-year contract for teaching mathematics to second-year students of the École Polytechnique. In 1816, this Bonapartist, non-religious school was reorganized, and several liberal professors were fired; Cauchy was promoted to full professor. + +When Cauchy was 28 years old, he was still living with his parents. His father found it high time for his son to marry; he found him a suitable bride, Aloïse de Bure, five years his junior. The de Bure family were printers and booksellers, and published most of Cauchy's works. Aloïse and Augustin were married on April 4, 1818, with great Roman Catholic ceremony, in the Church of Saint-Sulpice. In 1819 the couple's first daughter, Marie Françoise Alicia, was born, and in 1823 the second and last daughter, Marie Mathilde. + +The conservative political climate that lasted until 1830 suited Cauchy perfectly. In 1824 Louis XVIII died, and was succeeded by his even more conservative brother Charles X. During these years Cauchy was highly productive, and published one important mathematical treatise after another. He received cross-appointments at the Collège de France, and the . + +In exile +In July 1830, the July Revolution occurred in France. Charles X fled the country, and was succeeded by the non-Bourbon king Louis-Philippe (of the House of Orléans). Riots, in which uniformed students of the École Polytechnique took an active part, raged close to Cauchy's home in Paris. + +These events marked a turning point in Cauchy's life, and a break in his mathematical productivity. Cauchy, shaken by the fall of the government and moved by a deep hatred of the liberals who were taking power, left Paris to go abroad, leaving his family behind. He spent a short time at Fribourg in Switzerland, where he had to decide whether he would swear a required oath of allegiance to the new regime. He refused to do this, and consequently lost all his positions in Paris, except his membership of the Academy, for which an oath was not required. In 1831 Cauchy went to the Italian city of Turin, and after some time there, he accepted an offer from the King of Sardinia (who ruled Turin and the surrounding Piedmont region) for a chair of theoretical physics, which was created especially for him. He taught in Turin during 1832–1833. In 1831, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and the following year a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. + +In August 1833 Cauchy left Turin for Prague to become the science tutor of the thirteen-year-old Duke of Bordeaux, Henri d'Artois (1820–1883), the exiled Crown Prince and grandson of Charles X. As a professor of the École Polytechnique, Cauchy had been a notoriously bad lecturer, assuming levels of understanding that only a few of his best students could reach, and cramming his allotted time with too much material. The young Duke had neither taste nor talent for either mathematics or science, so student and teacher were a perfect mismatch. Although Cauchy took his mission very seriously, he did this with great clumsiness, and with surprising lack of authority over the Duke. +During his civil engineering days, Cauchy once had been briefly in charge of repairing a few of the Parisian sewers, and he made the mistake of mentioning this to his pupil; with great malice, the young Duke went about saying Mister Cauchy started his career in the sewers of Paris. Cauchy's role as tutor lasted until the Duke became eighteen years old, in September 1838. Cauchy did hardly any research during those five years, while the Duke acquired a lifelong dislike of mathematics. The only good that came out of this episode was Cauchy's promotion to baron, a title by which Cauchy set great store. + +In 1834, his wife and two daughters moved to Prague, and Cauchy was finally reunited with his family after four years in exile. + +Last years +Cauchy returned to Paris and his position at the Academy of Sciences late in 1838. He could not regain his teaching positions, because he still refused to swear an oath of allegiance. + +In August 1839 a vacancy appeared in the Bureau des Longitudes. This Bureau bore some resemblance to the Academy; for instance, it had the right to co-opt its members. Further, it was believed that members of the Bureau could "forget about" the oath of allegiance, although formally, unlike the Academicians, they were obliged to take it. The Bureau des Longitudes was an organization founded in 1795 to solve the problem of determining position at sea — mainly the longitudinal coordinate, since latitude is easily determined from the position of the sun. Since it was thought that position at sea was best determined by astronomical observations, the Bureau had developed into an organization resembling an academy of astronomical sciences. + +In November 1839 Cauchy was elected to the Bureau, and discovered immediately that the matter of the oath was not so easily dispensed with. Without his oath, the king refused to approve his election. For four years Cauchy was in the position of being elected but not approved; accordingly, he was not a formal member of the Bureau, did not receive payment, could not participate in meetings, and could not submit papers. Still Cauchy refused to take any oaths; however, he did feel loyal enough to direct his research to celestial mechanics. In 1840, he presented a dozen papers on this topic to the Academy. He also described and illustrated the signed-digit representation of numbers, an innovation presented in England in 1727 by John Colson. The confounded membership of the Bureau lasted until the end of 1843, when Cauchy was finally replaced by Poinsot. + +Throughout the nineteenth century the French educational system struggled over the separation of church and state. After losing control of the public education system, the Catholic Church sought to establish its own branch of education and found in Cauchy a staunch and illustrious ally. He lent his prestige and knowledge to the École Normale Écclésiastique, a school in Paris run by Jesuits, for training teachers for their colleges. He also took part in the founding of the Institut Catholique. The purpose of this institute was to counter the effects of the absence of Catholic university education in France. These activities did not make Cauchy popular with his colleagues, who, on the whole, supported the Enlightenment ideals of the French Revolution. When a chair of mathematics became vacant at the Collège de France in 1843, Cauchy applied for it, but received just three of 45 votes. + +The year 1848 was the year of revolution all over Europe; revolutions broke out in numerous countries, beginning in France. King Louis-Philippe, fearful of sharing the fate of Louis XVI, fled to England. The oath of allegiance was abolished, and the road to an academic appointment was finally clear for Cauchy. On March 1, 1849, he was reinstated at the Faculté de Sciences, as a professor of mathematical astronomy. After political turmoil all through 1848, France chose to become a Republic, under the Presidency of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte and son of Napoleon's brother, who had been installed as the first king of Holland. Soon (early 1852) the President made himself Emperor of France, and took the name Napoleon III. + +Not unexpectedly, the idea came up in bureaucratic circles that it would be useful to again require a loyalty oath from all state functionaries, including university professors. This time a cabinet minister was able to convince the Emperor to exempt Cauchy from the oath. Cauchy remained a professor at the university until his death at the age of 67. He received the Last Rites and died of a bronchial condition at 4 a.m. on 23 May 1857. + +His name is one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower. + +Work + +Early work +The genius of Cauchy was illustrated in his simple solution of the problem of Apollonius—describing a circle touching three given circles—which he discovered in 1805, his generalization of Euler's formula on polyhedra in 1811, and in several other elegant problems. More important is his memoir on wave propagation, which obtained the Grand Prix of the French Academy of Sciences in 1816. Cauchy's writings covered notable topics. In the theory of series he developed the notion of convergence and discovered many of the basic formulas for q-series. In the theory of numbers and complex quantities, he was the first to define complex numbers as pairs of real numbers. He also wrote on the theory of groups and substitutions, the theory of functions, differential equations and determinants. + +Wave theory, mechanics, elasticity +In the theory of light he worked on Fresnel's wave theory and on the dispersion and polarization of light. He also contributed research in mechanics, substituting the notion of the continuity of geometrical displacements for the principle of the continuity of matter. He wrote on the equilibrium of rods and elastic membranes and on waves in elastic media. He introduced a 3 × 3 symmetric matrix of numbers that is now known as the Cauchy stress tensor. In elasticity, he originated the theory of stress, and his results are nearly as valuable as those of Siméon Poisson. + +Number theory +Other significant contributions include being the first to prove the Fermat polygonal number theorem. + +Complex functions +Cauchy is most famous for his single-handed development of complex function theory. The first pivotal theorem proved by Cauchy, now known as Cauchy's integral theorem, was the following: + +where f(z) is a complex-valued function holomorphic on and within the non-self-intersecting closed curve C (contour) lying in the complex plane. The contour integral is taken along the contour C. The rudiments of this theorem can already be found in a paper that the 24-year-old Cauchy presented to the Académie des Sciences (then still called "First Class of the Institute") on August 11, 1814. In full form the theorem was given in 1825. The 1825 paper is seen by many as Cauchy's most important contribution to mathematics. + +In 1826 Cauchy gave a formal definition of a residue of a function. This concept concerns functions that have poles—isolated singularities, i.e., points where a function goes to positive or negative infinity. If the complex-valued function f(z) can be expanded in the neighborhood of a singularity a as + +where φ(z) is analytic (i.e., well-behaved without singularities), then f is said to have a pole of order n in the point a. If n = 1, the pole is called simple. +The coefficient B1 is called by Cauchy the residue of function f at a. If f is non-singular at a then the residue of f is zero at a. Clearly, the residue is in the case of a simple pole equal to + +where we replaced B1 by the modern notation of the residue. + +In 1831, while in Turin, Cauchy submitted two papers to the Academy of Sciences of Turin. In the first he proposed the formula now known as Cauchy's integral formula, + +where f(z) is analytic on C and within the region bounded by the contour C and the complex number a is somewhere in this region. The contour integral is taken counter-clockwise. Clearly, the integrand has a simple pole at z = a. In the second paper he presented the residue theorem, + +where the sum is over all the n poles of f(z) on and within the contour C. These results of Cauchy's still form the core of complex function theory as it is taught today to physicists and electrical engineers. For quite some time, contemporaries of Cauchy ignored his theory, believing it to be too complicated. Only in the 1840s the theory started to get response, with Pierre Alphonse Laurent being the first mathematician besides Cauchy to make a substantial contribution (his work on what are now known as Laurent series, published in 1843). + +Cours d'Analyse + + In his book Cours d'Analyse Cauchy stressed the importance of rigor in analysis. Rigor in this case meant the rejection of the principle of Generality of algebra (of earlier authors such as Euler and Lagrange) and its replacement by geometry and infinitesimals. Judith Grabiner wrote Cauchy was "the man who taught rigorous analysis to all of Europe". The book is frequently noted as being the first place that inequalities, and arguments were introduced into calculus. Here Cauchy defined continuity as follows: The function f(x) is continuous with respect to x between the given limits if, between these limits, an infinitely small increment in the variable always produces an infinitely small increment in the function itself. + +M. Barany claims that the École mandated the inclusion of infinitesimal methods against Cauchy's better judgement. Gilain notes that when the portion of the curriculum devoted to Analyse Algébrique was reduced in 1825, Cauchy insisted on placing the topic of continuous functions (and therefore also infinitesimals) at the beginning of the Differential Calculus. Laugwitz (1989) and Benis-Sinaceur (1973) point out that Cauchy continued to use infinitesimals in his own research as late as 1853. + +Cauchy gave an explicit definition of an infinitesimal in terms of a sequence tending to zero. There has been a vast body of literature written about Cauchy's notion of "infinitesimally small quantities", arguing they lead from everything from the usual "epsilontic" definitions or to the notions of non-standard analysis. The consensus is that Cauchy omitted or left implicit the important ideas to make clear the precise meaning of the infinitely small quantities he used. + +Taylor's theorem +He was the first to prove Taylor's theorem rigorously, establishing his well-known form of the remainder. He wrote a textbook (see the illustration) for his students at the École Polytechnique in which he developed the basic theorems of mathematical analysis as rigorously as possible. In this book he gave the necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a limit in the form that is still taught. Also Cauchy's well-known test for absolute convergence stems from this book: Cauchy condensation test. In 1829 he defined for the first time a complex function of a complex variable in another textbook. In spite of these, Cauchy's own research papers often used intuitive, not rigorous, methods; thus one of his theorems was exposed to a "counter-example" by Abel, later fixed by the introduction of the notion of uniform continuity. + +Argument principle, stability +In a paper published in 1855, two years before Cauchy's death, he discussed some theorems, one of which is similar to the "Principle of the argument" in many modern textbooks on complex analysis. In modern control theory textbooks, the Cauchy argument principle is quite frequently used to derive the Nyquist stability criterion, which can be used to predict the stability of negative feedback amplifier and negative feedback control systems. Thus Cauchy's work has a strong impact on both pure mathematics and practical engineering. + +Published works + +Cauchy was very productive, in number of papers second only to Leonhard Euler. It took almost a century to collect all his writings into 27 large volumes: + (Paris : Gauthier-Villars et fils, 1882–1974) + + +His greatest contributions to mathematical science are enveloped in the rigorous methods which he introduced; these are mainly embodied in his three great treatises: + + Le Calcul infinitésimal (1823) + Leçons sur les applications de calcul infinitésimal; La géométrie (1826–1828) +His other works include: + + Exercices d'analyse et de physique mathematique (Volume 1) + Exercices d'analyse et de physique mathematique (Volume 2) + Exercices d'analyse et de physique mathematique (Volume 3) + Exercices d'analyse et de physique mathematique (Volume 4) (Paris: Bachelier, 1840–1847) + Analyse algèbrique (Imprimerie Royale, 1821) + Nouveaux exercices de mathématiques (Paris : Gauthier-Villars, 1895) + Courses of mechanics (for the École Polytechnique) + Higher algebra (for the ) + Mathematical physics (for the Collège de France). + Mémoire sur l'emploi des equations symboliques dans le calcul infinitésimal et dans le calcul aux différences finis CR Ac ad. Sci. Paris, t. XVII, 449–458 (1843) credited as originating the operational calculus. + +Politics and religious beliefs +Augustin-Louis Cauchy grew up in the house of a staunch royalist. This made his father flee with the family to Arcueil during the French Revolution. Their life there during that time was apparently hard; Augustin-Louis's father, Louis François, spoke of living on rice, bread, and crackers during the period. A paragraph from an undated letter from Louis François to his mother in Rouen says: + In any event, he inherited his father's staunch royalism and hence refused to take oaths to any government after the overthrow of Charles X. + +He was an equally staunch Catholic and a member of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. He also had links to the Society of Jesus and defended them at the Academy when it was politically unwise to do so. His zeal for his faith may have led to his caring for Charles Hermite during his illness and leading Hermite to become a faithful Catholic. It also inspired Cauchy to plead on behalf of the Irish during the Great Famine of Ireland. + +His royalism and religious zeal made him contentious, which caused difficulties with his colleagues. He felt that he was mistreated for his beliefs, but his opponents felt he intentionally provoked people by berating them over religious matters or by defending the Jesuits after they had been suppressed. Niels Henrik Abel called him a "bigoted Catholic" and added he was "mad and there is nothing that can be done about him", but at the same time praised him as a mathematician. Cauchy's views were widely unpopular among mathematicians and when Guglielmo Libri Carucci dalla Sommaja was made chair in mathematics before him he, and many others, felt his views were the cause. When Libri was accused of stealing books he was replaced by Joseph Liouville rather than Cauchy, which caused a rift between Liouville and Cauchy. Another dispute with political overtones concerned Jean-Marie Constant Duhamel and a claim on inelastic shocks. Cauchy was later shown, by Jean-Victor Poncelet, to be wrong. + +See also + + List of topics named after Augustin-Louis Cauchy + Cauchy–Binet formula + Cauchy boundary condition + Cauchy's convergence test + Cauchy (crater) + Cauchy determinant + Cauchy distribution + Cauchy's equation + Cauchy–Euler equation + Cauchy's functional equation + Cauchy horizon + Cauchy formula for repeated integration + Cauchy–Frobenius lemma + Cauchy–Hadamard theorem + Cauchy–Kovalevskaya theorem + Cauchy momentum equation + Cauchy–Peano theorem + Cauchy principal value + Cauchy problem + Cauchy product + Cauchy's radical test + Cauchy–Rassias stability + Cauchy–Riemann equations + Cauchy–Schwarz inequality + Cauchy sequence + Cauchy surface + Cauchy's theorem (geometry) + Cauchy's theorem (group theory) + Maclaurin–Cauchy test + +References + +Notes + +Citations + +Sources + +Further reading + + + + Boyer, C.: The concepts of the calculus. Hafner Publishing Company, 1949. + + . + +External links + + + + Augustin-Louis Cauchy – Œuvres complètes (in 2 series) Gallica-Math + + Augustin-Louis Cauchy – Cauchy's Life by Robin Hartshorne + + +1789 births +1857 deaths +19th-century French mathematicians +Corps des ponts +École des Ponts ParisTech alumni +École Polytechnique alumni +Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences +Foreign Members of the Royal Society +French Roman Catholics +French geometers +History of calculus +Mathematical analysts +Linear algebraists +Members of the French Academy of Sciences +Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences +Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) +Textbook writers +Academic staff of the University of Turin +Archimedes of Syracuse (, ; ) was an Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Considered the greatest mathematician of ancient history, and one of the greatest of all time, Archimedes anticipated modern calculus and analysis by applying the concept of the infinitely small and the method of exhaustion to derive and rigorously prove a range of geometrical theorems. These include the area of a circle, the surface area and volume of a sphere, the area of an ellipse, the area under a parabola, the volume of a segment of a paraboloid of revolution, the volume of a segment of a hyperboloid of revolution, and the area of a spiral. + +Archimedes' other mathematical achievements include deriving an approximation of pi, defining and investigating the Archimedean spiral, and devising a system using exponentiation for expressing very large numbers. He was also one of the first to apply mathematics to physical phenomena, working on statics and hydrostatics. Archimedes' achievements in this area include a proof of the law of the lever, the widespread use of the concept of center of gravity, and the enunciation of the law of buoyancy or Archimedes' principle. He is also credited with designing innovative machines, such as his screw pump, compound pulleys, and defensive war machines to protect his native Syracuse from invasion. + +Archimedes died during the siege of Syracuse, when he was killed by a Roman soldier despite orders that he should not be harmed. Cicero describes visiting Archimedes' tomb, which was surmounted by a sphere and a cylinder that Archimedes requested be placed there to represent his mathematical discoveries. + +Unlike his inventions, Archimedes' mathematical writings were little known in antiquity. Mathematicians from Alexandria read and quoted him, but the first comprehensive compilation was not made until by Isidore of Miletus in Byzantine Constantinople, while commentaries on the works of Archimedes by Eutocius in the 6th century opened them to wider readership for the first time. The relatively few copies of Archimedes' written work that survived through the Middle Ages were an influential source of ideas for scientists during the Renaissance and again in the 17th century, while the discovery in 1906 of previously lost works by Archimedes in the Archimedes Palimpsest has provided new insights into how he obtained mathematical results. + +Biography + +Archimedes was born c. 287 BC in the seaport city of Syracuse, Sicily, at that time a self-governing colony in Magna Graecia. The date of birth is based on a statement by the Byzantine Greek historian John Tzetzes that Archimedes lived for 75 years before his death in 212 BC. In the Sand-Reckoner, Archimedes gives his father's name as Phidias, an astronomer about whom nothing else is known. A biography of Archimedes was written by his friend Heracleides, but this work has been lost, leaving the details of his life obscure. It is unknown, for instance, whether he ever married or had children, or if he ever visited Alexandria, Egypt, during his youth. From his surviving written works, it is clear that he maintained collegiate relations with scholars based there, including his friend Conon of Samos and the head librarian Eratosthenes of Cyrene. + +The standard versions of Archimedes' life were written long after his death by Greek and Roman historians. The earliest reference to Archimedes occurs in The Histories by Polybius ( 200–118 BC), written about 70 years after his death. It sheds little light on Archimedes as a person, and focuses on the war machines that he is said to have built in order to defend the city from the Romans. Polybius remarks how, during the Second Punic War, Syracuse switched allegiances from Rome to Carthage, resulting in a military campaign under the command of Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Appius Claudius Pulcher, who besieged the city from 213 to 212 BC. He notes that the Romans underestimated Syracuse's defenses, and mentions several machines Archimedes designed, including improved catapults, crane-like machines that could be swung around in an arc, and other stone-throwers. Although the Romans ultimately captured the city, they suffered considerable losses due to Archimedes' inventiveness. + +Cicero (106–43 BC) mentions Archimedes in some of his works. While serving as a quaestor in Sicily, Cicero found what was presumed to be Archimedes' tomb near the Agrigentine gate in Syracuse, in a neglected condition and overgrown with bushes. Cicero had the tomb cleaned up and was able to see the carving and read some of the verses that had been added as an inscription. The tomb carried a sculpture illustrating Archimedes' favorite mathematical proof, that the volume and surface area of the sphere are two-thirds that of an enclosing cylinder including its bases. He also mentions that Marcellus brought to Rome two planetariums Archimedes built. The Roman historian Livy (59 BC–17 AD) retells Polybius' story of the capture of Syracuse and Archimedes' role in it. + +Plutarch (45–119 AD) wrote in his Parallel Lives that Archimedes was related to King Hiero II, the ruler of Syracuse. He also provides at least two accounts on how Archimedes died after the city was taken. According to the most popular account, Archimedes was contemplating a mathematical diagram when the city was captured. A Roman soldier commanded him to come and meet Marcellus, but he declined, saying that he had to finish working on the problem. This enraged the soldier, who killed Archimedes with his sword. Another story has Archimedes carrying mathematical instruments before being killed because a soldier thought they were valuable items. Marcellus was reportedly angered by Archimedes' death, as he considered him a valuable scientific asset (he called Archimedes "a geometrical Briareus") and had ordered that he should not be harmed. + +The last words attributed to Archimedes are "Do not disturb my circles" (Latin, "Noli turbare circulos meos"; Katharevousa Greek, "μὴ μου τοὺς κύκλους τάραττε"), a reference to the mathematical drawing that he was supposedly studying when disturbed by the Roman soldier. There is no reliable evidence that Archimedes uttered these words and they do not appear in Plutarch's account. A similar quotation is found in the work of Valerius Maximus (fl. 30 AD), who wrote in Memorable Doings and Sayings, "" ("... but protecting the dust with his hands, said 'I beg of you, do not disturb this). + +Discoveries and inventions + +Archimedes' principle + +The most widely known anecdote about Archimedes tells of how he invented a method for determining the volume of an object with an irregular shape. According to Vitruvius, a crown for a temple had been made for King Hiero II of Syracuse, who supplied the pure gold to be used. The crown was likely made in the shape of a votive wreath. Archimedes was asked to determine whether some silver had been substituted by the goldsmith without damaging the crown, so he could not melt it down into a regularly shaped body in order to calculate its density. + +In this account, Archimedes noticed while taking a bath that the level of the water in the tub rose as he got in, and realized that this effect could be used to determine the golden crown's volume. Archimedes was so excited by this discovery that he took to the streets naked, having forgotten to dress, crying "Eureka!" (, heúrēka!, ). For practical purposes water is incompressible, so the submerged crown would displace an amount of water equal to its own volume. By dividing the mass of the crown by the volume of water displaced, its density could be obtained; if cheaper and less dense metals had been added, the density would be lower than that of gold. Archimedes found that this is what had happened, proving that silver had been mixed in. + +The story of the golden crown does not appear anywhere in Archimedes' known works. The practicality of the method described has been called into question due to the extreme accuracy that would be required to measure water displacement. Archimedes may have instead sought a solution that applied the hydrostatics principle known as Archimedes' principle, found in his treatise On Floating Bodies: a body immersed in a fluid experiences a buoyant force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces. Using this principle, it would have been possible to compare the density of the crown to that of pure gold by balancing it on a scale with a pure gold reference sample of the same weight, then immersing the apparatus in water. The difference in density between the two samples would cause the scale to tip accordingly. Galileo Galilei, who invented a hydrostatic balance in 1586 inspired by Archimedes' work, considered it "probable that this method is the same that Archimedes followed, since, besides being very accurate, it is based on demonstrations found by Archimedes himself." + +Law of the lever +While Archimedes did not invent the lever, he gave a mathematical proof of the principle involved in his work On the Equilibrium of Planes. Earlier descriptions of the principle of the lever are found in a work by Euclid and in the Mechanical Problems, belonging to the Peripatetic school of the followers of Aristotle, the authorship of which has been attributed by some to Archytas. + +There are several, often conflicting, reports regarding Archimedes' feats using the lever to lift very heavy objects. Plutarch describes how Archimedes designed block-and-tackle pulley systems, allowing sailors to use the principle of leverage to lift objects that would otherwise have been too heavy to move. According to Pappus of Alexandria, Archimedes' work on levers and his understanding of mechanical advantage caused him to remark: "Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth" (). Olympiodorus later attributed the same boast to Archimedes' invention of the baroulkos, a kind of windlass, rather than the lever. + +Archimedes' screw + +A large part of Archimedes' work in engineering probably arose from fulfilling the needs of his home city of Syracuse. Athenaeus of Naucratis quotes a certain Moschion in a description on how King Hiero II commissioned the design of a huge ship, the Syracusia, which could be used for luxury travel, carrying supplies, and as a display of naval power. The Syracusia is said to have been the largest ship built in classical antiquity and, according to Moschion's account, it was launched by Archimedes. The ship presumably was capable of carrying 600 people and included garden decorations, a gymnasium, and a temple dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite among its facilities. The account also mentions that, in order to remove any potential water leaking through the hull, a device with a revolving screw-shaped blade inside a cylinder was designed by Archimedes. + +Archimedes' screw was turned by hand, and could also be used to transfer water from a body of water into irrigation canals. The screw is still in use today for pumping liquids and granulated solids such as coal and grain. Described by Vitruvius, Archimedes' device may have been an improvement on a screw pump that was used to irrigate the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The world's first seagoing steamship with a screw propeller was the SS Archimedes, which was launched in 1839 and named in honor of Archimedes and his work on the screw. + +Archimedes' claw +Archimedes is said to have designed a claw as a weapon to defend the city of Syracuse. Also known as "", the claw consisted of a crane-like arm from which a large metal grappling hook was suspended. When the claw was dropped onto an attacking ship the arm would swing upwards, lifting the ship out of the water and possibly sinking it. + +There have been modern experiments to test the feasibility of the claw, and in 2005 a television documentary entitled Superweapons of the Ancient World built a version of the claw and concluded that it was a workable device. Archimedes has also been credited with improving the power and accuracy of the catapult, and with inventing the odometer during the First Punic War. The odometer was described as a cart with a gear mechanism that dropped a ball into a container after each mile traveled. + +Heat ray + +Archimedes may have written a work on mirrors entitled Catoptrica, and later authors believed he might have used mirrors acting collectively as a parabolic reflector to burn ships attacking Syracuse. Lucian wrote, in the second century AD, that during the siege of Syracuse Archimedes destroyed enemy ships with fire. Almost four hundred years later, Anthemius of Tralles mentions, somewhat hesitantly, that Archimedes could have used burning-glasses as a weapon. + +Often called the "", the purported mirror arrangement focused sunlight onto approaching ships, presumably causing them to catch fire. In the modern era, similar devices have been constructed and may be referred to as a heliostat or solar furnace. + +Archimedes' alleged heat ray has been the subject of an ongoing debate about its credibility since the Renaissance. René Descartes rejected it as false, while modern researchers have attempted to recreate the effect using only the means that would have been available to Archimedes, mostly with negative results. It has been suggested that a large array of highly polished bronze or copper shields acting as mirrors could have been employed to focus sunlight onto a ship, but the overall effect would have been blinding, dazzling, or distracting the crew of the ship rather than fire. + +Astronomical instruments +Archimedes discusses astronomical measurements of the Earth, Sun, and Moon, as well as Aristarchus' heliocentric model of the universe, in the Sand-Reckoner. Without the use of either trigonometry or a table of chords, Archimedes determines the Sun's apparent diameter by first describing the procedure and instrument used to make observations (a straight rod with pegs or grooves), applying correction factors to these measurements, and finally giving the result in the form of upper and lower bounds to account for observational error. Ptolemy, quoting Hipparchus, also references Archimedes' solstice observations in the Almagest. This would make Archimedes the first known Greek to have recorded multiple solstice dates and times in successive years. + +Cicero's De re publica portrays a fictional conversation taking place in 129 BC. After the capture of Syracuse in the Second Punic War, Marcellus is said to have taken back to Rome two mechanisms which were constructed by Archimedes and which showed the motion of the Sun, Moon and five planets. Cicero also mentions similar mechanisms designed by Thales of Miletus and Eudoxus of Cnidus. The dialogue says that Marcellus kept one of the devices as his only personal loot from Syracuse, and donated the other to the Temple of Virtue in Rome. Marcellus' mechanism was demonstrated, according to Cicero, by Gaius Sulpicius Gallus to Lucius Furius Philus, who described it thus: + +This is a description of a small planetarium. Pappus of Alexandria reports on a now lost treatise by Archimedes dealing with the construction of these mechanisms entitled On Sphere-Making. Modern research in this area has been focused on the Antikythera mechanism, another device built BC probably designed with a similar purpose. Constructing mechanisms of this kind would have required a sophisticated knowledge of differential gearing. This was once thought to have been beyond the range of the technology available in ancient times, but the discovery of the Antikythera mechanism in 1902 has confirmed that devices of this kind were known to the ancient Greeks. + +Mathematics +While he is often regarded as a designer of mechanical devices, Archimedes also made contributions to the field of mathematics. Plutarch wrote that Archimedes "placed his whole affection and ambition in those purer speculations where there can be no reference to the vulgar needs of life", though some scholars believe this may be a mischaracterization. + +Method of exhaustion + +Archimedes was able to use indivisibles (a precursor to infinitesimals) in a way that is similar to modern integral calculus. Through proof by contradiction (reductio ad absurdum), he could give answers to problems to an arbitrary degree of accuracy, while specifying the limits within which the answer lay. This technique is known as the method of exhaustion, and he employed it to approximate the areas of figures and the value of π. + +In Measurement of a Circle, he did this by drawing a larger regular hexagon outside a circle then a smaller regular hexagon inside the circle, and progressively doubling the number of sides of each regular polygon, calculating the length of a side of each polygon at each step. As the number of sides increases, it becomes a more accurate approximation of a circle. After four such steps, when the polygons had 96 sides each, he was able to determine that the value of π lay between 3 (approx. 3.1429) and 3 (approx. 3.1408), consistent with its actual value of approximately 3.1416. He also proved that the area of a circle was equal to π multiplied by the square of the radius of the circle (). + +Archimedean property +In On the Sphere and Cylinder, Archimedes postulates that any magnitude when added to itself enough times will exceed any given magnitude. Today this is known as the Archimedean property of real numbers. + +Archimedes gives the value of the square root of 3 as lying between (approximately 1.7320261) and (approximately 1.7320512) in Measurement of a Circle. The actual value is approximately 1.7320508, making this a very accurate estimate. He introduced this result without offering any explanation of how he had obtained it. This aspect of the work of Archimedes caused John Wallis to remark that he was: "as it were of set purpose to have covered up the traces of his investigation as if he had grudged posterity the secret of his method of inquiry while he wished to extort from them assent to his results." It is possible that he used an iterative procedure to calculate these values. + +The infinite series + +In Quadrature of the Parabola, Archimedes proved that the area enclosed by a parabola and a straight line is times the area of a corresponding inscribed triangle as shown in the figure at right. He expressed the solution to the problem as an infinite geometric series with the common ratio : + +If the first term in this series is the area of the triangle, then the second is the sum of the areas of two triangles whose bases are the two smaller secant lines, and whose third vertex is where the line that is parallel to the parabola's axis and that passes through the midpoint of the base intersects the parabola, and so on. This proof uses a variation of the series which sums to . + +Myriad of myriads +In The Sand Reckoner, Archimedes set out to calculate a number that was greater than the grains of sand needed to fill the universe. In doing so, he challenged the notion that the number of grains of sand was too large to be counted. He wrote:There are some, King Gelo (Gelo II, son of Hiero II), who think that the number of the sand is infinite in multitude; and I mean by the sand not only that which exists about Syracuse and the rest of Sicily but also that which is found in every region whether inhabited or uninhabited.To solve the problem, Archimedes devised a system of counting based on the myriad. The word itself derives from the Greek , for the number 10,000. He proposed a number system using powers of a myriad of myriads (100 million, i.e., 10,000 x 10,000) and concluded that the number of grains of sand required to fill the universe would be 8 vigintillion, or 8. + +Writings + +The works of Archimedes were written in Doric Greek, the dialect of ancient Syracuse. Many written works by Archimedes have not survived or are only extant in heavily edited fragments; at least seven of his treatises are known to have existed due to references made by other authors. Pappus of Alexandria mentions On Sphere-Making and another work on polyhedra, while Theon of Alexandria quotes a remark about refraction from the Catoptrica. + +Archimedes made his work known through correspondence with the mathematicians in Alexandria. The writings of Archimedes were first collected by the Byzantine Greek architect Isidore of Miletus (), while commentaries on the works of Archimedes written by Eutocius in the sixth century AD helped to bring his work a wider audience. Archimedes' work was translated into Arabic by Thābit ibn Qurra (836–901 AD), and into Latin via Arabic by Gerard of Cremona (c. 1114–1187). Direct Greek to Latin translations were later done by William of Moerbeke (c. 1215–1286) and Iacobus Cremonensis (c. 1400–1453). + +During the Renaissance, the Editio princeps (First Edition) was published in Basel in 1544 by Johann Herwagen with the works of Archimedes in Greek and Latin. + +Surviving works +The following are ordered chronologically based on new terminological and historical criteria set by Knorr (1978) and Sato (1986). + +Measurement of a Circle + +This is a short work consisting of three propositions. It is written in the form of a correspondence with Dositheus of Pelusium, who was a student of Conon of Samos. In Proposition II, Archimedes gives an approximation of the value of pi (), showing that it is greater than and less than . + +The Sand Reckoner + +In this treatise, also known as Psammites, Archimedes finds a number that is greater than the grains of sand needed to fill the universe. This book mentions the heliocentric theory of the solar system proposed by Aristarchus of Samos, as well as contemporary ideas about the size of the Earth and the distance between various celestial bodies. By using a system of numbers based on powers of the myriad, Archimedes concludes that the number of grains of sand required to fill the universe is 8 in modern notation. The introductory letter states that Archimedes' father was an astronomer named Phidias. The Sand Reckoner is the only surviving work in which Archimedes discusses his views on astronomy. + +On the Equilibrium of Planes + +There are two books to On the Equilibrium of Planes: the first contains seven postulates and fifteen propositions, while the second book contains ten propositions. In the first book, Archimedes proves the law of the lever, which states that: + +Archimedes uses the principles derived to calculate the areas and centers of gravity of various geometric figures including triangles, parallelograms and parabolas. + +Quadrature of the Parabola + +In this work of 24 propositions addressed to Dositheus, Archimedes proves by two methods that the area enclosed by a parabola and a straight line is 4/3 the area of a triangle with equal base and height. He achieves this in one of his proofs by calculating the value of a geometric series that sums to infinity with the ratio 1/4. + +On the Sphere and Cylinder + +In this two-volume treatise addressed to Dositheus, Archimedes obtains the result of which he was most proud, namely the relationship between a sphere and a circumscribed cylinder of the same height and diameter. The volume is 3 for the sphere, and 23 for the cylinder. The surface area is 42 for the sphere, and 62 for the cylinder (including its two bases), where is the radius of the sphere and cylinder. + +On Spirals + +This work of 28 propositions is also addressed to Dositheus. The treatise defines what is now called the Archimedean spiral. It is the locus of points corresponding to the locations over time of a point moving away from a fixed point with a constant speed along a line which rotates with constant angular velocity. Equivalently, in modern polar coordinates (, ), it can be described by the equation with real numbers and . + +This is an early example of a mechanical curve (a curve traced by a moving point) considered by a Greek mathematician. + +On Conoids and Spheroids + +This is a work in 32 propositions addressed to Dositheus. In this treatise Archimedes calculates the areas and volumes of sections of cones, spheres, and paraboloids. + +On Floating Bodies + +There are two books of On Floating Bodies. In the first book, Archimedes spells out the law of equilibrium of fluids and proves that water will adopt a spherical form around a center of gravity. This may have been an attempt at explaining the theory of contemporary Greek astronomers such as Eratosthenes that the Earth is round. The fluids described by Archimedes are not since he assumes the existence of a point towards which all things fall in order to derive the spherical shape. Archimedes' principle of buoyancy is given in this work, stated as follows:Any body wholly or partially immersed in fluid experiences an upthrust equal to, but opposite in direction to, the weight of the fluid displaced. + +In the second part, he calculates the equilibrium positions of sections of paraboloids. This was probably an idealization of the shapes of ships' hulls. Some of his sections float with the base under water and the summit above water, similar to the way that icebergs float. + +Ostomachion + +Also known as Loculus of Archimedes or Archimedes' Box, this is a dissection puzzle similar to a Tangram, and the treatise describing it was found in more complete form in the Archimedes Palimpsest. Archimedes calculates the areas of the 14 pieces which can be assembled to form a square. Reviel Netz of Stanford University argued in 2003 that Archimedes was attempting to determine how many ways the pieces could be assembled into the shape of a square. Netz calculates that the pieces can be made into a square 17,152 ways. The number of arrangements is 536 when solutions that are equivalent by rotation and reflection are excluded. The puzzle represents an example of an early problem in combinatorics. + +The origin of the puzzle's name is unclear, and it has been suggested that it is taken from the Ancient Greek word for "throat" or "gullet", stomachos (). Ausonius calls the puzzle , a Greek compound word formed from the roots of () and (). + +The cattle problem + +Gotthold Ephraim Lessing discovered this work in a Greek manuscript consisting of a 44-line poem in the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel, Germany in 1773. It is addressed to Eratosthenes and the mathematicians in Alexandria. Archimedes challenges them to count the numbers of cattle in the Herd of the Sun by solving a number of simultaneous Diophantine equations. There is a more difficult version of the problem in which some of the answers are required to be square numbers. A. Amthor first solved this version of the problem in 1880, and the answer is a very large number, approximately 7.760271. + +The Method of Mechanical Theorems + +This treatise was thought lost until the discovery of the Archimedes Palimpsest in 1906. In this work Archimedes uses indivisibles, and shows how breaking up a figure into an infinite number of infinitely small parts can be used to determine its area or volume. He may have considered this method lacking in formal rigor, so he also used the method of exhaustion to derive the results. As with The Cattle Problem, The Method of Mechanical Theorems was written in the form of a letter to Eratosthenes in Alexandria. + +Apocryphal works +Archimedes' Book of Lemmas or Liber Assumptorum is a treatise with 15 propositions on the nature of circles. The earliest known copy of the text is in Arabic. T. L. Heath and Marshall Clagett argued that it cannot have been written by Archimedes in its current form, since it quotes Archimedes, suggesting modification by another author. The Lemmas may be based on an earlier work by Archimedes that is now lost. + +It has also been claimed that the formula for calculating the area of a triangle from the length of its sides was known to Archimedes, though its first appearance is in the work of Heron of Alexandria in the 1st century AD. Other questionable attributions to Archimedes' work include the Latin poem Carmen de ponderibus et mensuris (4th or 5th century), which describes the use of a hydrostatic balance to solve the problem of the crown, and the 12th-century text Mappae clavicula, which contains instructions on how to perform assaying of metals by calculating their specific gravities. + +Archimedes Palimpsest + +The foremost document containing Archimedes' work is the Archimedes Palimpsest. In 1906, the Danish professor Johan Ludvig Heiberg visited Constantinople to examine a 174-page goatskin parchment of prayers, written in the 13th century, after reading a short transcription published seven years earlier by Papadopoulos-Kerameus. He confirmed that it was indeed a palimpsest, a document with text that had been written over an erased older work. Palimpsests were created by scraping the ink from existing works and reusing them, a common practice in the Middle Ages, as vellum was expensive. The older works in the palimpsest were identified by scholars as 10th-century copies of previously lost treatises by Archimedes. The parchment spent hundreds of years in a monastery library in Constantinople before being sold to a private collector in the 1920s. On 29 October 1998, it was sold at auction to an anonymous buyer for $2 million. + +The palimpsest holds seven treatises, including the only surviving copy of On Floating Bodies in the original Greek. It is the only known source of The Method of Mechanical Theorems, referred to by Suidas and thought to have been lost forever. Stomachion was also discovered in the palimpsest, with a more complete analysis of the puzzle than had been found in previous texts. The palimpsest was stored at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, where it was subjected to a range of modern tests including the use of ultraviolet and light to read the overwritten text. It has since returned to its anonymous owner. + +The treatises in the Archimedes Palimpsest include: + On the Equilibrium of Planes + On Spirals + Measurement of a Circle + On the Sphere and Cylinder + On Floating Bodies + The Method of Mechanical Theorems + Stomachion + Speeches by the 4th century BC politician Hypereides + A commentary on Aristotle's Categories + Other works + +Legacy + +Sometimes called the father of mathematics and mathematical physics, Archimedes had a wide influence on mathematics and science. + +Mathematics and physics + +Historians of science and mathematics almost universally agree that Archimedes was the finest mathematician from antiquity. Eric Temple Bell, for instance, wrote: + +Likewise, Alfred North Whitehead and George F. Simmons said of Archimedes: + +Reviel Netz, Suppes Professor in Greek Mathematics and Astronomy at Stanford University and an expert in Archimedes notes: + +Leonardo da Vinci repeatedly expressed admiration for Archimedes, and attributed his invention Architonnerre to Archimedes. Galileo called him "superhuman" and "my master", while Huygens said, "I think Archimedes is comparable to no one", consciously emulating him in his early work. Leibniz said, "He who understands Archimedes and Apollonius will admire less the achievements of the foremost men of later times". Gauss's heroes were Archimedes and Newton, and Moritz Cantor, who studied under Gauss in the University of Göttingen, reported that he once remarked in conversation that "there had been only three epoch-making mathematicians: Archimedes, Newton, and Eisenstein". + +The inventor Nikola Tesla praised him, saying: + +Honors and commemorations + +There is a crater on the Moon named Archimedes () in his honor, as well as a lunar mountain range, the Montes Archimedes (). + +The Fields Medal for outstanding achievement in mathematics carries a portrait of Archimedes, along with a carving illustrating his proof on the sphere and the cylinder. The inscription around the head of Archimedes is a quote attributed to 1st century AD poet Manilius, which reads in Latin: Transire suum pectus mundoque potiri ("Rise above oneself and grasp the world"). + +Archimedes has appeared on postage stamps issued by East Germany (1973), Greece (1983), Italy (1983), Nicaragua (1971), San Marino (1982), and Spain (1963). + +The exclamation of Eureka! attributed to Archimedes is the state motto of California. In this instance, the word refers to the discovery of gold near Sutter's Mill in 1848 which sparked the California Gold Rush. + +See also + +Concepts + Arbelos + Archimedean point + Archimedes' axiom + Archimedes number + Archimedes paradox + Archimedean solid + Archimedes' twin circles + Methods of computing square roots + Salinon + Steam cannon + Trammel of Archimedes + +People + Diocles + Pseudo-Archimedes + Zhang Heng + +References + +Notes + +Citations + +Further reading + +Boyer, Carl Benjamin. 1991. A History of Mathematics. New York: Wiley. . +Clagett, Marshall. 1964–1984. Archimedes in the Middle Ages 1–5. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. +Dijksterhuis, Eduard J. [1938] 1987. Archimedes, translated. Princeton: Princeton University Press. . +Gow, Mary. 2005. Archimedes: Mathematical Genius of the Ancient World. Enslow Publishing. . +Hasan, Heather. 2005. Archimedes: The Father of Mathematics. Rosen Central. . +Heath, Thomas L. 1897. Works of Archimedes. Dover Publications. . Complete works of Archimedes in English. +Netz, Reviel, and William Noel. 2007. The Archimedes Codex. Orion Publishing Group. . +Pickover, Clifford A. 2008. Archimedes to Hawking: Laws of Science and the Great Minds Behind Them. Oxford University Press. . +Simms, Dennis L. 1995. Archimedes the Engineer. Continuum International Publishing Group. . +Stein, Sherman. 1999. Archimedes: What Did He Do Besides Cry Eureka?. Mathematical Association of America. . + +External links + +Heiberg's Edition of Archimedes. Texts in Classical Greek, with some in English. + + + + + + The Archimedes Palimpsest project at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland + + + Testing the Archimedes steam cannon + + +3rd-century BC Greek people +3rd-century BC writers +People from Syracuse, Sicily +Ancient Greek engineers +Ancient Greek inventors +Ancient Greek geometers +Ancient Greek physicists +Hellenistic-era philosophers +Doric Greek writers +Sicilian Greeks +Mathematicians from Sicily +Scientists from Sicily +Ancient Greeks who were murdered +Ancient Syracusans +Fluid dynamicists +Buoyancy +280s BC births +210s BC deaths +Year of birth uncertain +Year of death uncertain +3rd-century BC mathematicians +3rd-century BC Syracusans +Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability or evidence of effectiveness. Unlike modern medicine, which employs the scientific method to test plausible therapies by way of responsible and ethical clinical trials, producing repeatable evidence of either effect or of no effect, alternative therapies reside outside of medical science and do not originate from using the scientific method, but instead rely on testimonials, anecdotes, religion, tradition, superstition, belief in supernatural "energies", pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, fraud, or other unscientific sources. Frequently used terms for relevant practices are New Age medicine, pseudo-medicine, unorthodox medicine, holistic medicine, fringe medicine, and unconventional medicine, with little distinction from quackery. + +Some alternative practices are based on theories that contradict the established science of how the human body works; others resort to the supernatural or superstitious to explain their effect or lack thereof. In others, the practice has plausibility but lacks a positive risk–benefit outcome probability. Research into alternative therapies often fails to follow proper research protocols (such as placebo-controlled trials, blind experiments and calculation of prior probability), providing invalid results. History has shown that if a method is proven to work, it eventually ceases to be alternative and becomes mainstream medicine. + +Much of the perceived effect of an alternative practice arises from a belief that it will be effective (the placebo effect), or from the treated condition resolving on its own (the natural course of disease). This is further exacerbated by the tendency to turn to alternative therapies upon the failure of medicine, at which point the condition will be at its worst and most likely to spontaneously improve. In the absence of this bias, especially for diseases that are not expected to get better by themselves such as cancer or HIV infection, multiple studies have shown significantly worse outcomes if patients turn to alternative therapies. While this may be because these patients avoid effective treatment, some alternative therapies are actively harmful (e.g. cyanide poisoning from amygdalin, or the intentional ingestion of hydrogen peroxide) or actively interfere with effective treatments. + +The alternative medicine sector is a highly profitable industry with a strong lobby, and faces far less regulation over the use and marketing of unproven treatments. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), integrated medicine or integrative medicine (IM), and holistic medicine attempt to combine alternative practices with those of mainstream medicine. Traditional medicine practices become "alternative" when used outside their original settings and without proper scientific explanation and evidence. Alternative methods are often marketed as more "natural" or "holistic" than methods offered by medical science, that is sometimes derogatorily called "Big Pharma" by supporters of alternative medicine. Billions of dollars have been spent studying alternative medicine, with few or no positive results and many methods thoroughly disproven. + +Definitions and terminology + +The terms alternative medicine, complementary medicine, integrative medicine, holistic medicine, natural medicine, unorthodox medicine, fringe medicine, unconventional medicine, and new age medicine are used interchangeably as having the same meaning and are almost synonymous in most contexts. Terminology has shifted over time, reflecting the preferred branding of practitioners. For example, the United States National Institutes of Health department studying alternative medicine, currently named the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), was established as the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) and was renamed the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) before obtaining its current name. Therapies are often framed as "natural" or "holistic", implicitly and intentionally suggesting that conventional medicine is "artificial" and "narrow in scope". + +The meaning of the term "alternative" in the expression "alternative medicine", is not that it is an effective alternative to medical science (though some alternative medicine promoters may use the loose terminology to give the appearance of effectiveness). Loose terminology may also be used to suggest meaning that a dichotomy exists when it does not (e.g., the use of the expressions "Western medicine" and "Eastern medicine" to suggest that the difference is a cultural difference between the Asian east and the European west, rather than that the difference is between evidence-based medicine and treatments that do not work). + +Alternative medicine +Alternative medicine is defined loosely as a set of products, practices, and theories that are believed or perceived by their users to have the healing effects of medicine, but whose effectiveness has not been established using scientific methods, or whose theory and practice is not part of biomedicine, or whose theories or practices are directly contradicted by scientific evidence or scientific principles used in biomedicine. "Biomedicine" or "medicine" is that part of medical science that applies principles of biology, physiology, molecular biology, biophysics, and other natural sciences to clinical practice, using scientific methods to establish the effectiveness of that practice. Unlike medicine, an alternative product or practice does not originate from using scientific methods, but may instead be based on hearsay, religion, tradition, superstition, belief in supernatural energies, pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, fraud, or other unscientific sources. + +Some other definitions seek to specify alternative medicine in terms of its social and political marginality to mainstream healthcare. This can refer to the lack of support that alternative therapies receive from medical scientists regarding access to research funding, sympathetic coverage in the medical press, or inclusion in the standard medical curriculum. For example, a widely used definition devised by the US NCCIH calls it "a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of conventional medicine". However, these descriptive definitions are inadequate in the present-day when some conventional doctors offer alternative medical treatments and introductory courses or modules can be offered as part of standard undergraduate medical training; alternative medicine is taught in more than half of US medical schools and US health insurers are increasingly willing to provide reimbursement for alternative therapies. + +Complementary or integrative medicine + +Complementary medicine (CM) or integrative medicine (IM) is when alternative medicine is used together with mainstream functional medical treatment in a belief that it improves the effect of treatments. For example, acupuncture (piercing the body with needles to influence the flow of a supernatural energy) might be believed to increase the effectiveness or "complement" science-based medicine when used at the same time. Significant drug interactions caused by alternative therapies may make treatments less effective, notably in cancer therapy. + +Several medical organizations differentiate between complementary and alternative medicine including the UK National Health Service (NHS), Cancer Research UK, and the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the latter of which states that "Complementary medicine is used in addition to standard treatments" whereas "Alternative medicine is used instead of standard treatments." + +Complementary and integrative interventions are used to improve fatigue in adult cancer patients. + +David Gorski has described integrative medicine as an attempt to bring pseudoscience into academic science-based medicine with skeptics such as Gorski and David Colquhoun referring to this with the pejorative term "quackademia". Robert Todd Carroll described Integrative medicine as "a synonym for 'alternative' medicine that, at its worst, integrates sense with nonsense. At its best, integrative medicine supports both consensus treatments of science-based medicine and treatments that the science, while promising perhaps, does not justify" Rose Shapiro has criticized the field of alternative medicine for rebranding the same practices as integrative medicine. + +CAM is an abbreviation of the phrase complementary and alternative medicine. The 2019 World Health Organization (WHO) Global Report on Traditional and Complementary Medicine states that the terms complementary and alternative medicine "refer to a broad set of health care practices that are not part of that country's own traditional or conventional medicine and are not fully integrated into the dominant health care system. They are used interchangeably with traditional medicine in some countries." + +The Integrative Medicine Exam by the American Board of Physician Specialties includes the following subjects: Manual Therapies, Biofield Therapies, Acupuncture, Movement Therapies, Expressive Arts, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, Indigenous Medical Systems, Homeopathic Medicine, Naturopathic Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Chiropractic, and Functional Medicine. + +Other terms + +Traditional medicine (TM) refers to certain practices within a culture which have existed since before the advent of medical science, Many TM practices are based on "holistic" approaches to disease and health, versus the scientific evidence-based methods in conventional medicine. The 2019 WHO report defines traditional medicine as "the sum total of the knowledge, skill and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness." When used outside the original setting and in the absence of scientific evidence, TM practices are typically referred to as "alternative medicine". + +Holistic medicine is another rebranding of alternative medicine. In this case, the words balance and holism are often used alongside complementary or integrative, claiming to take into fuller account the "whole" person, in contrast to the supposed reductionism of medicine. + +Challenges in defining alternative medicine +Prominent members of the science and biomedical science community say that it is not meaningful to define an alternative medicine that is separate from a conventional medicine because the expressions "conventional medicine", "alternative medicine", "complementary medicine", "integrative medicine", and "holistic medicine" do not refer to any medicine at all. Others say that alternative medicine cannot be precisely defined because of the diversity of theories and practices it includes, and because the boundaries between alternative and conventional medicine overlap, are porous, and change. Healthcare practices categorized as alternative may differ in their historical origin, theoretical basis, diagnostic technique, therapeutic practice and in their relationship to the medical mainstream. Under a definition of alternative medicine as "non-mainstream", treatments considered alternative in one location may be considered conventional in another. + +Critics say the expression is deceptive because it implies there is an effective alternative to science-based medicine, and that complementary is deceptive because it implies that the treatment increases the effectiveness of (complements) science-based medicine, while alternative medicines that have been tested nearly always have no measurable positive effect compared to a placebo. Journalist John Diamond wrote that "there is really no such thing as alternative medicine, just medicine that works and medicine that doesn't", a notion later echoed by Paul Offit: "The truth is there's no such thing as conventional or alternative or complementary or integrative or holistic medicine. There's only medicine that works and medicine that doesn't. And the best way to sort it out is by carefully evaluating scientific studies—not by visiting Internet chat rooms, reading magazine articles, or talking to friends." + +Types + +Alternative medicine consists of a wide range of health care practices, products, and therapies. The shared feature is a claim to heal that is not based on the scientific method. Alternative medicine practices are diverse in their foundations and methodologies. Alternative medicine practices may be classified by their cultural origins or by the types of beliefs upon which they are based. Methods may incorporate or be based on traditional medicinal practices of a particular culture, folk knowledge, superstition, spiritual beliefs, belief in supernatural energies (antiscience), pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, fraud, new or different concepts of health and disease, and any bases other than being proven by scientific methods. Different cultures may have their own unique traditional or belief based practices developed recently or over thousands of years, and specific practices or entire systems of practices. + +Unscientific belief systems + +Alternative medicine, such as using naturopathy or homeopathy in place of conventional medicine, is based on belief systems not grounded in science. + +Traditional ethnic systems + +Alternative medical systems may be based on traditional medicine practices, such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Ayurveda in India, or practices of other cultures around the world. Some useful applications of traditional medicines have been researched and accepted within ordinary medicine, however the underlying belief systems are seldom scientific and are not accepted. + +Traditional medicine is considered alternative when it is used outside its home region; or when it is used together with or instead of known functional treatment; or when it can be reasonably expected that the patient or practitioner knows or should know that it will not work – such as knowing that the practice is based on superstition. + +Supernatural energies +Bases of belief may include belief in existence of supernatural energies undetected by the science of physics, as in biofields, or in belief in properties of the energies of physics that are inconsistent with the laws of physics, as in energy medicine. + +Herbal remedies and other substances + +Substance based practices use substances found in nature such as herbs, foods, non-vitamin supplements and megavitamins, animal and fungal products, and minerals, including use of these products in traditional medical practices that may also incorporate other methods. Examples include healing claims for non-vitamin supplements, fish oil, Omega-3 fatty acid, glucosamine, echinacea, flaxseed oil, and ginseng. Herbal medicine, or phytotherapy, includes not just the use of plant products, but may also include the use of animal and mineral products. It is among the most commercially successful branches of alternative medicine, and includes the tablets, powders and elixirs that are sold as "nutritional supplements". Only a very small percentage of these have been shown to have any efficacy, and there is little regulation as to standards and safety of their contents. + +Religion, faith healing, and prayer + +NCCIH classification +The US agency NCCIH has created a classification system for branches of complementary and alternative medicine that divides them into five major groups. These groups have some overlap, and distinguish two types of energy medicine: veritable which involves scientifically observable energy (including magnet therapy, colorpuncture and light therapy) and putative, which invokes physically undetectable or unverifiable energy. None of these energies have any evidence to support that they affect the body in any positive or health promoting way. + + Whole medical systems: Cut across more than one of the other groups; examples include traditional Chinese medicine, naturopathy, homeopathy, and ayurveda. + Mind-body interventions: Explore the interconnection between the mind, body, and spirit, under the premise that they affect "bodily functions and symptoms". A connection between mind and body is conventional medical fact, and this classification does not include therapies with proven function such as cognitive behavioral therapy. + "Biology"-based practices: Use substances found in nature such as herbs, foods, vitamins, and other natural substances. (As used here, "biology" does not refer to the science of biology, but is a usage newly coined by NCCIH in the primary source used for this article. "Biology-based" as coined by NCCIH may refer to chemicals from a nonbiological source, such as use of the poison lead in traditional Chinese medicine, and to other nonbiological substances.) + Manipulative and body-based practices: feature manipulation or movement of body parts, such as is done in bodywork, chiropractic, and osteopathic manipulation. + Energy medicine: is a domain that deals with putative and verifiable energy fields: + Biofield therapies are intended to influence energy fields that are purported to surround and penetrate the body. The existence of such energy fields have been disproven. + Bioelectromagnetic-based therapies use verifiable electromagnetic fields, such as pulsed fields, alternating-current, or direct-current fields in a non-scientific manner. + +History + +The history of alternative medicine may refer to the history of a group of diverse medical practices that were collectively promoted as "alternative medicine" beginning in the 1970s, to the collection of individual histories of members of that group, or to the history of western medical practices that were labeled "irregular practices" by the western medical establishment. It includes the histories of complementary medicine and of integrative medicine. Before the 1970s, western practitioners that were not part of the increasingly science-based medical establishment were referred to "irregular practitioners", and were dismissed by the medical establishment as unscientific and as practicing quackery. Until the 1970s, irregular practice became increasingly marginalized as quackery and fraud, as western medicine increasingly incorporated scientific methods and discoveries, and had a corresponding increase in success of its treatments. In the 1970s, irregular practices were grouped with traditional practices of nonwestern cultures and with other unproven or disproven practices that were not part of biomedicine, with the entire group collectively marketed and promoted under the single expression "alternative medicine". + +Use of alternative medicine in the west began to rise following the counterculture movement of the 1960s, as part of the rising new age movement of the 1970s. This was due to misleading mass marketing of "alternative medicine" being an effective "alternative" to biomedicine, changing social attitudes about not using chemicals and challenging the establishment and authority of any kind, sensitivity to giving equal measure to beliefs and practices of other cultures (cultural relativism), and growing frustration and desperation by patients about limitations and side effects of science-based medicine. At the same time, in 1975, the American Medical Association, which played the central role in fighting quackery in the United States, abolished its quackery committee and closed down its Department of Investigation. By the early to mid 1970s the expression "alternative medicine" came into widespread use, and the expression became mass marketed as a collection of "natural" and effective treatment "alternatives" to science-based biomedicine. By 1983, mass marketing of "alternative medicine" was so pervasive that the British Medical Journal (BMJ) pointed to "an apparently endless stream of books, articles, and radio and television programmes urge on the public the virtues of (alternative medicine) treatments ranging from meditation to drilling a hole in the skull to let in more oxygen". + +An analysis of trends in the criticism of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in five prestigious American medical journals during the period of reorganization within medicine (1965–1999) was reported as showing that the medical profession had responded to the growth of CAM in three phases, and that in each phase, changes in the medical marketplace had influenced the type of response in the journals. Changes included relaxed medical licensing, the development of managed care, rising consumerism, and the establishment of the USA Office of Alternative Medicine (later National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, currently National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health). + +Medical education +Mainly as a result of reforms following the Flexner Report of 1910 medical education in established medical schools in the US has generally not included alternative medicine as a teaching topic. Typically, their teaching is based on current practice and scientific knowledge about: anatomy, physiology, histology, embryology, neuroanatomy, pathology, pharmacology, microbiology and immunology. Medical schools' teaching includes such topics as doctor-patient communication, ethics, the art of medicine, and engaging in complex clinical reasoning (medical decision-making). Writing in 2002, Snyderman and Weil remarked that by the early twentieth century the Flexner model had helped to create the 20th-century academic health center, in which education, research, and practice were inseparable. While this had much improved medical practice by defining with increasing certainty the pathophysiological basis of disease, a single-minded focus on the pathophysiological had diverted much of mainstream American medicine from clinical conditions that were not well understood in mechanistic terms, and were not effectively treated by conventional therapies. + +By 2001 some form of CAM training was being offered by at least 75 out of 125 medical schools in the US. Exceptionally, the School of Medicine of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, includes a research institute for integrative medicine (a member entity of the Cochrane Collaboration). Medical schools are responsible for conferring medical degrees, but a physician typically may not legally practice medicine until licensed by the local government authority. Licensed physicians in the US who have attended one of the established medical schools there have usually graduated Doctor of Medicine (MD). All states require that applicants for MD licensure be graduates of an approved medical school and complete the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). + +Efficacy + +There is a general scientific consensus that alternative therapies lack the requisite scientific validation, and their effectiveness is either unproved or disproved. Many of the claims regarding the efficacy of alternative medicines are controversial, since research on them is frequently of low quality and methodologically flawed. Selective publication bias, marked differences in product quality and standardisation, and some companies making unsubstantiated claims call into question the claims of efficacy of isolated examples where there is evidence for alternative therapies. + +The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine points to confusions in the general population – a person may attribute symptomatic relief to an otherwise-ineffective therapy just because they are taking something (the placebo effect); the natural recovery from or the cyclical nature of an illness (the regression fallacy) gets misattributed to an alternative medicine being taken; a person not diagnosed with science-based medicine may never originally have had a true illness diagnosed as an alternative disease category. + +Edzard Ernst, the first university professor of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, characterized the evidence for many alternative techniques as weak, nonexistent, or negative and in 2011 published his estimate that about 7.4% were based on "sound evidence", although he believes that may be an overestimate. Ernst has concluded that 95% of the alternative therapies he and his team studied, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, homeopathy, and reflexology, are "statistically indistinguishable from placebo treatments", but he also believes there is something that conventional doctors can usefully learn from the chiropractors and homeopath: this is the therapeutic value of the placebo effect, one of the strangest phenomena in medicine. + +In 2003, a project funded by the CDC identified 208 condition-treatment pairs, of which 58% had been studied by at least one randomized controlled trial (RCT), and 23% had been assessed with a meta-analysis. According to a 2005 book by a US Institute of Medicine panel, the number of RCTs focused on CAM has risen dramatically. + +, the Cochrane Library had 145 CAM-related Cochrane systematic reviews and 340 non-Cochrane systematic reviews. An analysis of the conclusions of only the 145 Cochrane reviews was done by two readers. In 83% of the cases, the readers agreed. In the 17% in which they disagreed, a third reader agreed with one of the initial readers to set a rating. These studies found that, for CAM, 38.4% concluded positive effect or possibly positive (12.4%), 4.8% concluded no effect, 0.7% concluded harmful effect, and 56.6% concluded insufficient evidence. An assessment of conventional treatments found that 41.3% concluded positive or possibly positive effect, 20% concluded no effect, 8.1% concluded net harmful effects, and 21.3% concluded insufficient evidence. However, the CAM review used the more developed 2004 Cochrane database, while the conventional review used the initial 1998 Cochrane database. + +Alternative therapies do not "complement" (improve the effect of, or mitigate the side effects of) functional medical treatment. Significant drug interactions caused by alternative therapies may instead negatively impact functional treatment by making prescription drugs less effective, such as interference by herbal preparations with warfarin. + +In the same way as for conventional therapies, drugs, and interventions, it can be difficult to test the efficacy of alternative medicine in clinical trials. In instances where an established, effective, treatment for a condition is already available, the Helsinki Declaration states that withholding such treatment is unethical in most circumstances. Use of standard-of-care treatment in addition to an alternative technique being tested may produce confounded or difficult-to-interpret results. + +Cancer researcher Andrew J. Vickers has stated: + +Perceived mechanism of effect +Anything classified as alternative medicine by definition does not have a proven healing or medical effect. However, there are different mechanisms through which it can be perceived to "work". The common denominator of these mechanisms is that effects are mis-attributed to the alternative treatment. + +Placebo effect +A placebo is a treatment with no intended therapeutic value. An example of a placebo is an inert pill, but it can include more dramatic interventions like sham surgery. The placebo effect is the concept that patients will perceive an improvement after being treated with an inert treatment. The opposite of the placebo effect is the nocebo effect, when patients who expect a treatment to be harmful will perceive harmful effects after taking it. + +Placebos do not have a physical effect on diseases or improve overall outcomes, but patients may report improvements in subjective outcomes such as pain and nausea. A 1955 study suggested that a substantial part of a medicine's impact was due to the placebo effect. However, reassessments found the study to have flawed methodology. This and other modern reviews suggest that other factors like natural recovery and reporting bias should also be considered. + +All of these are reasons why alternative therapies may be credited for improving a patient's condition even though the objective effect is non-existent, or even harmful. David Gorski argues that alternative treatments should be treated as a placebo, rather than as medicine. Almost none have performed significantly better than a placebo in clinical trials. Furthermore, distrust of conventional medicine may lead to patients experiencing the nocebo effect when taking effective medication. + +Regression to the mean +A patient who receives an inert treatment may report improvements afterwards that it did not cause. Assuming it was the cause without evidence is an example of the regression fallacy. This may be due to a natural recovery from the illness, or a fluctuation in the symptoms of a long-term condition. The concept of regression toward the mean implies that an extreme result is more likely to be followed by a less extreme result. + +Other factors +There are also reasons why a placebo treatment group may outperform a "no-treatment" group in a test which are not related to a patient's experience. These include patients reporting more favourable results than they really felt due to politeness or "experimental subordination", observer bias, and misleading wording of questions. In their 2010 systematic review of studies into placebos, Asbjørn Hróbjartsson and Peter C. Gøtzsche write that "even if there were no true effect of placebo, one would expect to record differences between placebo and no-treatment groups due to bias associated with lack of blinding." Alternative therapies may also be credited for perceived improvement through decreased use or effect of medical treatment, and therefore either decreased side effects or nocebo effects towards standard treatment. + +Use and regulation + +Appeal +Practitioners of complementary medicine usually discuss and advise patients as to available alternative therapies. Patients often express interest in mind-body complementary therapies because they offer a non-drug approach to treating some health conditions. + +In addition to the social-cultural underpinnings of the popularity of alternative medicine, there are several psychological issues that are critical to its growth, notably psychological effects, such as the will to believe, cognitive biases that help maintain self-esteem and promote harmonious social functioning, and the post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy. + +In a 2018 interview with The BMJ, Edzard Ernst stated: "The present popularity of complementary and alternative medicine is also inviting criticism of what we are doing in mainstream medicine. It shows that we aren't fulfilling a certain need-we are not giving patients enough time, compassion, or empathy. These are things that complementary practitioners are very good at. Mainstream medicine could learn something from complementary medicine." + +Marketing +Alternative medicine is a profitable industry with large media advertising expenditures. Accordingly, alternative practices are often portrayed positively and compared favorably to "big pharma". + +The popularity of complementary & alternative medicine (CAM) may be related to other factors that Ernst mentioned in a 2008 interview in The Independent: + +Paul Offit proposed that "alternative medicine becomes quackery" in four ways: by recommending against conventional therapies that are helpful, promoting potentially harmful therapies without adequate warning, draining patients' bank accounts, or by promoting "magical thinking". Promoting alternative medicine has been called dangerous and unethical. + +Social factors +Authors have speculated on the socio-cultural and psychological reasons for the appeal of alternative medicines among the minority using them in lieu of conventional medicine. There are several socio-cultural reasons for the interest in these treatments centered on the low level of scientific literacy among the public at large and a concomitant increase in antiscientific attitudes and new age mysticism. Related to this are vigorous marketing of extravagant claims by the alternative medical community combined with inadequate media scrutiny and attacks on critics. Alternative medicine is criticized for taking advantage of the least fortunate members of society. + +There is also an increase in conspiracy theories toward conventional medicine and pharmaceutical companies, mistrust of traditional authority figures, such as the physician, and a dislike of the current delivery methods of scientific biomedicine, all of which have led patients to seek out alternative medicine to treat a variety of ailments. Many patients lack access to contemporary medicine, due to a lack of private or public health insurance, which leads them to seek out lower-cost alternative medicine. Medical doctors are also aggressively marketing alternative medicine to profit from this market. + +Patients can be averse to the painful, unpleasant, and sometimes-dangerous side effects of biomedical treatments. Treatments for severe diseases such as cancer and HIV infection have well-known, significant side-effects. Even low-risk medications such as antibiotics can have potential to cause life-threatening anaphylactic reactions in a very few individuals. Many medications may cause minor but bothersome symptoms such as cough or upset stomach. In all of these cases, patients may be seeking out alternative therapies to avoid the adverse effects of conventional treatments. + +Prevalence of use +According to research published in 2015, the increasing popularity of CAM needs to be explained by moral convictions or lifestyle choices rather than by economic reasoning. + +In developing nations, access to essential medicines is severely restricted by lack of resources and poverty. Traditional remedies, often closely resembling or forming the basis for alternative remedies, may comprise primary healthcare or be integrated into the healthcare system. In Africa, traditional medicine is used for 80% of primary healthcare, and in developing nations as a whole over one-third of the population lack access to essential medicines. + +In Latin America, inequities against BIPOC communities keep them tied to their traditional practices and therefore, it is often these communities that constitute the majority of users of alternative medicine. Racist attitudes towards certain communities disable them from accessing more urbanized modes of care. In a study that assessed access to care in rural communities of Latin America, it was found that discrimination is a huge barrier to the ability of citizens to access care; more specifically, women of Indigenous and African descent, and lower-income families were especially hurt. Such exclusion exacerbates the inequities that minorities in Latin America already face. Consistently excluded from many systems of westernized care for socioeconomic and other reasons, low-income communities of color often turn to traditional medicine for care as it has proved reliable to them across generations. + +Commentators including David Horrobin have proposed adopting a prize system to reward medical research. This stands in opposition to the current mechanism for funding research proposals in most countries around the world. In the US, the NCCIH provides public research funding for alternative medicine. The NCCIH has spent more than US$2.5 billion on such research since 1992 and this research has not demonstrated the efficacy of alternative therapies. As of 2011, the NCCIH's sister organization in the NIC Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine had given out grants of around $105 million each year for several years. Testing alternative medicine that has no scientific basis (as in the aforementioned grants) has been called a waste of scarce research resources. + +That alternative medicine has been on the rise "in countries where Western science and scientific method generally are accepted as the major foundations for healthcare, and 'evidence-based' practice is the dominant paradigm" was described as an "enigma" in the Medical Journal of Australia. A 15-year systematic review published in 2022 on the global acceptance and use of CAM among medical specialists found the overall acceptance of CAM at 52% and the overall use at 45%. + +In the United States +In the United States, the 1974 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) required that for states to receive federal money, they had to grant religious exemptions to child neglect and abuse laws regarding religion-based healing practices. Thirty-one states have child-abuse religious exemptions. + +The use of alternative medicine in the US has increased, with a 50 percent increase in expenditures and a 25 percent increase in the use of alternative therapies between 1990 and 1997 in America. According to a national survey conducted in 2002, "36 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 years and over use some form of complementary and alternative medicine." Americans spend many billions on the therapies annually. Most Americans used CAM to treat and/or prevent musculoskeletal conditions or other conditions associated with chronic or recurring pain. In America, women were more likely than men to use CAM, with the biggest difference in use of mind-body therapies including prayer specifically for health reasons". In 2008, more than 37% of American hospitals offered alternative therapies, up from 27 percent in 2005, and 25% in 2004. More than 70% of the hospitals offering CAM were in urban areas. + +A survey of Americans found that 88 percent thought that "there are some good ways of treating sickness that medical science does not recognize". Use of magnets was the most common tool in energy medicine in America, and among users of it, 58 percent described it as at least "sort of scientific", when it is not at all scientific. In 2002, at least 60 percent of US medical schools have at least some class time spent teaching alternative therapies. "Therapeutic touch" was taught at more than 100 colleges and universities in 75 countries before the practice was debunked by a nine-year-old child for a school science project. + +Prevalence of use of specific therapies +The most common CAM therapies used in the US in 2002 were prayer (45%), herbalism (19%), breathing meditation (12%), meditation (8%), chiropractic medicine (8%), yoga (5–6%), body work (5%), diet-based therapy (4%), progressive relaxation (3%), mega-vitamin therapy (3%) and Visualization (2%) + +In Britain, the most often used alternative therapies were Alexander technique, aromatherapy, Bach and other flower remedies, body work therapies including massage, Counseling stress therapies, hypnotherapy, meditation, reflexology, Shiatsu, Ayurvedic medicine, nutritional medicine, and Yoga. Ayurvedic medicine remedies are mainly plant based with some use of animal materials. Safety concerns include the use of herbs containing toxic compounds and the lack of quality control in Ayurvedic facilities. + +According to the National Health Service (England), the most commonly used complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) supported by the NHS in the UK are: acupuncture, aromatherapy, chiropractic, homeopathy, massage, osteopathy and clinical hypnotherapy. + +In palliative care +Complementary therapies are often used in palliative care or by practitioners attempting to manage chronic pain in patients. Integrative medicine is considered more acceptable in the interdisciplinary approach used in palliative care than in other areas of medicine. "From its early experiences of care for the dying, palliative care took for granted the necessity of placing patient values and lifestyle habits at the core of any design and delivery of quality care at the end of life. If the patient desired complementary therapies, and as long as such treatments provided additional support and did not endanger the patient, they were considered acceptable." The non-pharmacologic interventions of complementary medicine can employ mind-body interventions designed to "reduce pain and concomitant mood disturbance and increase quality of life." + +Regulation + +The alternative medicine lobby has successfully pushed for alternative therapies to be subject to far less regulation than conventional medicine. Some professions of complementary/traditional/alternative medicine, such as chiropractic, have achieved full regulation in North America and other parts of the world and are regulated in a manner similar to that governing science-based medicine. In contrast, other approaches may be partially recognized and others have no regulation at all. In some cases, promotion of alternative therapies is allowed when there is demonstrably no effect, only a tradition of use. Despite laws making it illegal to market or promote alternative therapies for use in cancer treatment, many practitioners promote them. + +Regulation and licensing of alternative medicine ranges widely from country to country, and state to state. In Austria and Germany complementary and alternative medicine is mainly in the hands of doctors with MDs, and half or more of the American alternative practitioners are licensed MDs. In Germany herbs are tightly regulated: half are prescribed by doctors and covered by health insurance. + +Government bodies in the US and elsewhere have published information or guidance about alternative medicine. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has issued online warnings for consumers about medication health fraud. This includes a section on Alternative Medicine Fraud, such as a warning that Ayurvedic products generally have not been approved by the FDA before marketing. + +Risks and problems + +The National Science Foundation has studied the problematic side of the public's attitudes and understandings of science fiction, pseudoscience, and belief in alternative medicine. They use a quote from Robert L. Park to describe some issues with alternative medicine: + +Negative outcomes + +According to the Institute of Medicine, use of alternative medical techniques may result in several types of harm: + "Direct harm, which results in adverse patient outcome." + "Economic harm, which results in monetary loss but presents no health hazard;" + "Indirect harm, which results in a delay of appropriate treatment, or in unreasonable expectations that discourage patients and their families from accepting and dealing effectively with their medical conditions;" + +Interactions with conventional pharmaceuticals +Forms of alternative medicine that are biologically active can be dangerous even when used in conjunction with conventional medicine. Examples include immuno-augmentation therapy, shark cartilage, bioresonance therapy, oxygen and ozone therapies, and insulin potentiation therapy. Some herbal remedies can cause dangerous interactions with chemotherapy drugs, radiation therapy, or anesthetics during surgery, among other problems. An example of these dangers was reported by Associate Professor Alastair MacLennan of Adelaide University, Australia regarding a patient who almost bled to death on the operating table after neglecting to mention that she had been taking "natural" potions to "build up her strength" before the operation, including a powerful anticoagulant that nearly caused her death. + +To ABC Online, MacLennan also gives another possible mechanism: + +Side-effects +Conventional treatments are subjected to testing for undesired side-effects, whereas alternative therapies, in general, are not subjected to such testing at all. Any treatment – whether conventional or alternative – that has a biological or psychological effect on a patient may also have potential to possess dangerous biological or psychological side-effects. Attempts to refute this fact with regard to alternative therapies sometimes use the appeal to nature fallacy, i.e., "That which is natural cannot be harmful." Specific groups of patients such as patients with impaired hepatic or renal function are more susceptible to side effects of alternative remedies. + +An exception to the normal thinking regarding side-effects is homeopathy. Since 1938, the FDA has regulated homeopathic products in "several significantly different ways from other drugs." Homeopathic preparations, termed "remedies", are extremely dilute, often far beyond the point where a single molecule of the original active (and possibly toxic) ingredient is likely to remain. They are, thus, considered safe on that count, but "their products are exempt from good manufacturing practice requirements related to expiration dating and from finished product testing for identity and strength", and their alcohol concentration may be much higher than allowed in conventional drugs. + +Treatment delay +Alternative medicine may discourage people from getting the best possible treatment. Those having experienced or perceived success with one alternative therapy for a minor ailment may be convinced of its efficacy and persuaded to extrapolate that success to some other alternative therapy for a more serious, possibly life-threatening illness. For this reason, critics argue that therapies that rely on the placebo effect to define success are very dangerous. According to mental health journalist Scott Lilienfeld in 2002, "unvalidated or scientifically unsupported mental health practices can lead individuals to forgo effective treatments" and refers to this as opportunity cost. Individuals who spend large amounts of time and money on ineffective treatments may be left with precious little of either, and may forfeit the opportunity to obtain treatments that could be more helpful. In short, even innocuous treatments can indirectly produce negative outcomes. Between 2001 and 2003, four children died in Australia because their parents chose ineffective naturopathic, homeopathic, or other alternative medicines and diets rather than conventional therapies. + +Unconventional cancer "cures" +There have always been "many therapies offered outside of conventional cancer treatment centers and based on theories not found in biomedicine. These alternative cancer cures have often been described as 'unproven,' suggesting that appropriate clinical trials have not been conducted and that the therapeutic value of the treatment is unknown." However, "many alternative cancer treatments have been investigated in good-quality clinical trials, and they have been shown to be ineffective.... The label 'unproven' is inappropriate for such therapies; it is time to assert that many alternative cancer therapies have been 'disproven'." + +Edzard Ernst has stated: + +Rejection of science + +Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is not as well researched as conventional medicine, which undergoes intense research before release to the public. Practitioners of science-based medicine also discard practices and treatments when they are shown ineffective, while alternative practitioners do not. Funding for research is also sparse making it difficult to do further research for effectiveness of CAM. Most funding for CAM is funded by government agencies. Proposed research for CAM are rejected by most private funding agencies because the results of research are not reliable. The research for CAM has to meet certain standards from research ethics committees, which most CAM researchers find almost impossible to meet. Even with the little research done on it, CAM has not been proven to be effective. Studies that have been done will be cited by CAM practitioners in an attempt to claim a basis in science. These studies tend to have a variety of problems, such as small samples, various biases, poor research design, lack of controls, negative results, etc. Even those with positive results can be better explained as resulting in false positives due to bias and noisy data. + +Alternative medicine may lead to a false understanding of the body and of the process of science. Steven Novella, a neurologist at Yale School of Medicine, wrote that government-funded studies of integrating alternative medicine techniques into the mainstream are "used to lend an appearance of legitimacy to treatments that are not legitimate." Marcia Angell considered that critics felt that healthcare practices should be classified based solely on scientific evidence, and if a treatment had been rigorously tested and found safe and effective, science-based medicine will adopt it regardless of whether it was considered "alternative" to begin with. It is possible for a method to change categories (proven vs. unproven), based on increased knowledge of its effectiveness or lack thereof. Prominent supporters of this position are George D. Lundberg, former editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the journal's interim editor-in-chief Phil Fontanarosa. + +Writing in 1999 in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians Barrie R. Cassileth mentioned a 1997 letter to the US Senate Subcommittee on Public Health and Safety, which had deplored the lack of critical thinking and scientific rigor in OAM-supported research, had been signed by four Nobel Laureates and other prominent scientists. (This was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).) + +In March 2009, a staff writer for the Washington Post reported that the impending national discussion about broadening access to health care, improving medical practice and saving money was giving a group of scientists an opening to propose shutting down the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. They quoted one of these scientists, Steven Salzberg, a genome researcher and computational biologist at the University of Maryland, as saying "One of our concerns is that NIH is funding pseudoscience." They noted that the vast majority of studies were based on fundamental misunderstandings of physiology and disease, and had shown little or no effect. + +Writers such as Carl Sagan, a noted astrophysicist, advocate of scientific skepticism and the author of The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (1996), have lambasted the lack of empirical evidence to support the existence of the putative energy fields on which these therapies are predicated. + +Sampson has also pointed out that CAM tolerated contradiction without thorough reason and experiment. Barrett has pointed out that there is a policy at the NIH of never saying something does not work, only that a different version or dose might give different results. Barrett also expressed concern that, just because some "alternatives" have merit, there is the impression that the rest deserve equal consideration and respect even though most are worthless, since they are all classified under the one heading of alternative medicine. + +Some critics of alternative medicine are focused upon health fraud, misinformation, and quackery as public health problems, notably Wallace Sampson and Paul Kurtz founders of Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine and Stephen Barrett, co-founder of The National Council Against Health Fraud and webmaster of Quackwatch. Grounds for opposing alternative medicine include that: + Alternative therapies typically lack any scientific validation, and their effectiveness is either unproved or disproved. + It is usually based on religion, tradition, superstition, belief in supernatural energies, pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, or fraud. + Methods may incorporate or base themselves on traditional medicine, folk knowledge, spiritual beliefs, ignorance or misunderstanding of scientific principles, errors in reasoning, or newly conceived approaches claiming to heal. + Research on alternative medicine is frequently of low quality and methodologically flawed. + Treatments are not part of the conventional, science-based healthcare system. + Where alternative therapies have replaced conventional science-based medicine, even with the safest alternative medicines, failure to use or delay in using conventional science-based medicine has caused deaths. + +Many alternative medical treatments are not patentable, which may lead to less research funding from the private sector. In addition, in most countries, alternative therapies (in contrast to pharmaceuticals) can be marketed without any proof of efficacy – also a disincentive for manufacturers to fund scientific research. + +English evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, in his 2003 book A Devil's Chaplain, defined alternative medicine as a "set of practices that cannot be tested, refuse to be tested, or consistently fail tests." Dawkins argued that if a technique is demonstrated effective in properly performed trials then it ceases to be alternative and simply becomes medicine. + +CAM is also often less regulated than conventional medicine. There are ethical concerns about whether people who perform CAM have the proper knowledge to treat patients. CAM is often done by non-physicians who do not operate with the same medical licensing laws which govern conventional medicine, and it is often described as an issue of non-maleficence. + +According to two writers, Wallace Sampson and K. Butler, marketing is part of the training required in alternative medicine, and propaganda methods in alternative medicine have been traced back to those used by Hitler and Goebels in their promotion of pseudoscience in medicine. + +In November 2011 Edzard Ernst stated that the "level of misinformation about alternative medicine has now reached the point where it has become dangerous and unethical. So far, alternative medicine has remained an ethics-free zone. It is time to change this." + +Harriet Hall criticized the low standard of evidence accepted by the alternative medicine community: + +Conflicts of interest +Some commentators have said that special consideration must be given to the issue of conflicts of interest in alternative medicine. Edzard Ernst has said that most researchers into alternative medicine are at risk of "unidirectional bias" because of a generally uncritical belief in their chosen subject. Ernst cites as evidence the phenomenon whereby 100% of a sample of acupuncture trials originating in China had positive conclusions. David Gorski contrasts evidence-based medicine, in which researchers try to disprove hyphotheses, with what he says is the frequent practice in pseudoscience-based research, of striving to confirm pre-existing notions. Harriet Hall writes that there is a contrast between the circumstances of alternative medicine practitioners and disinterested scientists: in the case of acupuncture, for example, an acupuncturist would have "a great deal to lose" if acupuncture were rejected by research; but the disinterested skeptic would not lose anything if its effects were confirmed; rather their change of mind would enhance their skeptical credentials. + +Use of health and research resources +Research into alternative therapies has been criticized for "diverting research time, money, and other resources from more fruitful lines of investigation in order to pursue a theory that has no basis in biology." Research methods expert and author of Snake Oil Science, R. Barker Bausell, has stated that "it's become politically correct to investigate nonsense." A commonly cited statistic is that the US National Institute of Health had spent $2.5 billion on investigating alternative therapies prior to 2009, with none being found to be effective. + +See also + Alternative therapies for developmental and learning disabilities + Conservation medicine + Ethnomedicine + Gallbladder flush + Psychic surgery + Siddha medicine + +Notes + +References + +Bibliography + +Further reading + + + Reprinted in . + +World Health Organization + Benchmarks for training in traditional / complementary and alternative medicine + + + Summary. + +Journals + Alternative Medicine Review: A Journal of Clinical Therapeutics. Sandpoint, Idaho : Thorne Research, c. 1996 NLM ID: 9705340 + Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. Aliso Viejo, California : InnoVision Communications, c1995- NLM ID: 9502013 + BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine . London: BioMed Central, 2001 NLM ID: 101088661 + Complementary Therapies in Medicine. Edinburgh; New York : Churchill Livingstone, c. 1993 NLM ID: 9308777 + Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine: eCAM. New York: Hindawi, c. 2004 NLM ID: 101215021 + Forschende Komplementärmedizin / Research in Complementary Medicine + Journal for Alternative and Complementary Medicine New York : Mary Ann Liebert, c. 1995 + Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine (SRAM) + +External links + + +Pseudoscience +In geometry, an Archimedean solid is one of 13 convex polyhedra whose faces are regular polygons and whose vertices are all symmetric to each other. They were first enumerated by Archimedes. The convex polyhedra with regular faces and symmetric vertices (the convex uniform polyhedra) include also the five Platonic solids (which are composed of only one type of polygon) and the two infinite families of prisms and antiprisms; these are not counted as Archimedean solids. The pseudorhombicuboctahedron has regular faces, and vertices that are symmetric in a weaker sense; it is also not generally counted as an Archimedean solid. The Archimedean solids are a subset of the Johnson solids, whose regular polygonal faces do not need to meet in identical vertices. + +In these polyhedra, the vertices are identical, in the sense that a global isometry of the entire solid takes any one vertex to any other. observed that a 14th polyhedron, the elongated square gyrobicupola (or pseudo-rhombicuboctahedron), meets a weaker definition of an Archimedean solid, in which "identical vertices" means +merely that the parts of the polyhedron near any two vertices look the same (they have the same shapes of faces meeting around each vertex in the same order and forming the same angles). Grünbaum pointed out a frequent error in which authors define Archimedean solids using some form of this local definition but omit the 14th polyhedron. If only 13 polyhedra are to be listed, the definition must use global symmetries of the polyhedron rather than local neighborhoods. + +Prisms and antiprisms, whose symmetry groups are the dihedral groups, are generally not considered to be Archimedean solids, even though their faces are regular polygons and their symmetry groups act transitively on their vertices. Excluding these two infinite families, there are 13 Archimedean solids. All the Archimedean solids (but not the elongated square gyrobicupola) can be made via Wythoff constructions from the Platonic solids with tetrahedral, octahedral and icosahedral symmetry. + +Origin of name +The Archimedean solids take their name from Archimedes, who discussed them in a now-lost work. Pappus refers to it, stating that Archimedes listed 13 polyhedra. During the Renaissance, artists and mathematicians valued pure forms with high symmetry, and by around 1620 Johannes Kepler had completed the rediscovery of the 13 polyhedra, as well as defining the prisms, antiprisms, and the non-convex solids known as Kepler-Poinsot polyhedra. (See for more information about the rediscovery of the Archimedean solids during the renaissance.) + +Kepler may have also found the elongated square gyrobicupola (pseudorhombicuboctahedron): at least, he once stated that there were 14 Archimedean solids. However, his published enumeration only includes the 13 uniform polyhedra, and the first clear statement of the pseudorhombicuboctahedron's existence was made in 1905, by Duncan Sommerville. + +Classification +There are 13 Archimedean solids (not counting the elongated square gyrobicupola; 15 if the mirror images of two enantiomorphs, the snub cube and snub dodecahedron, are counted separately). + +Here the vertex configuration refers to the type of regular polygons that meet at any given vertex. For example, a vertex configuration of 4.6.8 means that a square, hexagon, and octagon meet at a vertex (with the order taken to be clockwise around the vertex). + +Some definitions of Semiregular polyhedron include one more figure, the Elongated square gyrobicupola or "pseudo-rhombicuboctahedron". + +Properties + +The number of vertices is 720° divided by the vertex angle defect. + +The cuboctahedron and icosidodecahedron are edge-uniform and are called quasi-regular. + +The duals of the Archimedean solids are called the Catalan solids. Together with the bipyramids and trapezohedra, these are the face-uniform solids with regular vertices. + +Chirality + +The snub cube and snub dodecahedron are known as chiral, as they come in a left-handed form (Latin: levomorph or laevomorph) and right-handed form (Latin: dextromorph). When something comes in multiple forms which are each other's three-dimensional mirror image, these forms may be called enantiomorphs. (This nomenclature is also used for the forms of certain chemical compounds.) + +Construction of Archimedean solids + +The different Archimedean and Platonic solids can be related to each other using a handful of general constructions. Starting with a Platonic solid, truncation involves cutting away of corners. To preserve symmetry, the cut is in a plane perpendicular to the line joining a corner to the center of the polyhedron and is the same for all corners. Depending on how much is truncated (see table below), different Platonic and Archimedean (and other) solids can be created. If the truncation is exactly deep enough such that each pair of faces from adjacent vertices shares exactly one point, it is known as a rectification. An expansion, or cantellation, involves moving each face away from the center (by the same distance so as to preserve the symmetry of the Platonic solid) and taking the convex hull. Expansion with twisting also involves rotating the faces, thus splitting each rectangle corresponding to an edge into two triangles by one of the diagonals of the rectangle. The last construction we use here is truncation of both corners and edges. Ignoring scaling, expansion can also be viewed as the rectification of the rectification. Likewise, the cantitruncation can be viewed as the truncation of the rectification. + +Note the duality between the cube and the octahedron, and between the dodecahedron and the icosahedron. Also, partially because the tetrahedron is self-dual, only one Archimedean solid that has at most tetrahedral symmetry. (All Platonic solids have at least tetrahedral symmetry, as tetrahedral symmetry is a symmetry operation of (i.e. is included in) octahedral and isohedral symmetries, which is demonstrated by the fact that an octahedron can be viewed as a rectified tetrahedron, and an icosahedron can be used as a snub tetrahedron.) + +Stereographic projection + +See also + Aperiodic tiling + Archimedean graph + Icosahedral twins + List of uniform polyhedra + Prince Rupert's cube#Generalizations + Quasicrystal + Regular polyhedron + Semiregular polyhedron + Toroidal polyhedron + Uniform polyhedron + +Citations + +Works cited +. Reprinted in . +. + +General references +. + Chapter 2 + (Section 3–9) +. + +External links + + Archimedean Solids by Eric W. Weisstein, Wolfram Demonstrations Project. + Paper models of Archimedean Solids and Catalan Solids + Free paper models(nets) of Archimedean solids + The Uniform Polyhedra by Dr. R. Mäder + Archimedean Solids at Visual Polyhedra by David I. McCooey + Virtual Reality Polyhedra, The Encyclopedia of Polyhedra by George W. Hart + Penultimate Modular Origami by James S. Plank + Interactive 3D polyhedra in Java + Solid Body Viewer is an interactive 3D polyhedron viewer which allows you to save the model in svg, stl or obj format. + Stella: Polyhedron Navigator: Software used to create many of the images on this page. + Paper Models of Archimedean (and other) Polyhedra +In geometry, an antiprism or is a polyhedron composed of two parallel direct copies (not mirror images) of an polygon, connected by an alternating band of triangles. They are represented by the Conway notation . + +Antiprisms are a subclass of prismatoids, and are a (degenerate) type of snub polyhedron. + +Antiprisms are similar to prisms, except that the bases are twisted relatively to each other, and that the side faces (connecting the bases) are triangles, rather than quadrilaterals. + +The dual polyhedron of an -gonal antiprism is an -gonal trapezohedron. + +History +At the intersection of modern-day graph theory and coding theory, the triangulation of a set of points have interested mathematicians since Isaac Newton, who fruitlessly sought a mathematical proof of the kissing number problem in 1694. The existence of antiprisms was discussed, and their name was coined by Johannes Kepler, though it is possible that they were previously known to Archimedes, as they satisfy the same conditions on faces and on vertices as the Archimedean solids. According to Ericson and Zinoviev, Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter wrote at length on the topic, and was among the first to apply the mathematics of Victor Schlegel to this field. + +Knowledge in this field is "quite incomplete" and "was obtained fairly recently", i.e. in the 20th century. For example, as of 2001 it had been proven for only a limited number of non-trivial cases that the -gonal antiprism is the mathematically optimal arrangement of points in the sense of maximizing the minimum Euclidean distance between any two points on the set: in 1943 by László Fejes Tóth for 4 and 6 points (digonal and trigonal antiprisms, which are Platonic solids); in 1951 by Kurt Schütte and Bartel Leendert van der Waerden for 8 points (tetragonal antiprism, which is not a cube). + +The chemical structure of binary compounds has been remarked to be in the family of antiprisms; especially those of the family of boron hydrides (in 1975) and carboranes because they are isoelectronic. This is a mathematically real conclusion reached by studies of X-ray diffraction patterns, and stems from the 1971 work of Kenneth Wade, the nominative source for Wade's rules of polyhedral skeletal electron pair theory. + +Rare-earth metals such as the lanthanides form antiprismatic compounds with some of the halides or some of the iodides. The study of crystallography is useful here. Some lanthanides, when arranged in peculiar antiprismatic structures with chlorine and water, can form molecule-based magnets. + +Right antiprism +For an antiprism with regular -gon bases, one usually considers the case where these two copies are twisted by an angle of degrees. + +The axis of a regular polygon is the line perpendicular to the polygon plane and lying in the polygon centre. + +For an antiprism with congruent regular -gon bases, twisted by an angle of degrees, more regularity is obtained if the bases have the same axis: are coaxial; i.e. (for non-coplanar bases): if the line connecting the base centers is perpendicular to the base planes. Then the antiprism is called a right antiprism, and its side faces are isosceles triangles. + +Uniform antiprism +A uniform -antiprism has two congruent regular -gons as base faces, and equilateral triangles as side faces. + +Uniform antiprisms form an infinite class of vertex-transitive polyhedra, as do uniform prisms. For , we have the regular tetrahedron as a digonal antiprism (degenerate antiprism); for , the regular octahedron as a triangular antiprism (non-degenerate antiprism). + +Schlegel diagrams + +Cartesian coordinates +Cartesian coordinates for the vertices of a right -antiprism (i.e. with regular -gon bases and isosceles triangle side faces) are: + +where ; + +if the -antiprism is uniform (i.e. if the triangles are equilateral), then: + +Volume and surface area +Let be the edge-length of a uniform -gonal antiprism; then the volume is: + +and the surface area is: + +Furthermore, the volume of a right -gonal antiprism with side length of its bases and height is given by: + +Note that the volume of a right -gonal prism with the same and is: + +which is smaller than that of an antiprism. + +Related polyhedra +There are an infinite set of truncated antiprisms, including a lower-symmetry form of the truncated octahedron (truncated triangular antiprism). These can be alternated to create snub antiprisms, two of which are Johnson solids, and the snub triangular antiprism is a lower symmetry form of the regular icosahedron. + +Four-dimensional antiprisms can be defined as having two dual polyhedra as parallel opposite faces, so that each three-dimensional face between them comes from two dual parts of the polyhedra: a vertex and a dual polygon, or two dual edges. Every three-dimensional polyhedron is combinatorially equivalent to one of the two opposite faces of a four-dimensional antiprism, constructed from its canonical polyhedron and its polar dual. However, there exist four-dimensional polyhedra that cannot be combined with their duals to form five-dimensional antiprisms. + +Symmetry +The symmetry group of a right -antiprism (i.e. with regular bases and isosceles side faces) is of order , except in the cases of: +: the regular tetrahedron, which has the larger symmetry group of order , which has three versions of as subgroups; + +: the regular octahedron, which has the larger symmetry group of order , which has four versions of as subgroups. + +The symmetry group contains inversion if and only if is odd. + +The rotation group is of order , except in the cases of: +: the regular tetrahedron, which has the larger rotation group of order , which has three versions of as subgroups; + +: the regular octahedron, which has the larger rotation group of order , which has four versions of as subgroups. + +Note: The right -antiprisms have congruent regular -gon bases and congruent isosceles triangle side faces, thus have the same (dihedral) symmetry group as the uniform -antiprism, for . + +Star antiprism + +Uniform star antiprisms are named by their star polygon bases, {p/q}, and exist in prograde and in retrograde (crossed) solutions. Crossed forms have intersecting vertex figures, and are denoted by "inverted" fractions: p/(p – q) instead of p/q; example: 5/3 instead of 5/2. + +A right star antiprism has two congruent coaxial regular convex or star polygon base faces, and 2n isosceles triangle side faces. + +Any star antiprism with regular convex or star polygon bases can be made a right star antiprism (by translating and/or twisting one of its bases, if necessary). + +In the retrograde forms but not in the prograde forms, the triangles joining the convex or star bases intersect the axis of rotational symmetry. Thus: + +Retrograde star antiprisms with regular convex polygon bases cannot have all equal edge lengths, so cannot be uniform. "Exception": a retrograde star antiprism with equilateral triangle bases (vertex configuration: 3.3/2.3.3) can be uniform; but then, it has the appearance of an equilateral triangle: it is a degenerate star polyhedron. + +Similarly, some retrograde star antiprisms with regular star polygon bases cannot have all equal edge lengths, so cannot be uniform. Example: a retrograde star antiprism with regular star 7/5-gon bases (vertex configuration: 3.3.3.7/5) cannot be uniform. + +Also, star antiprism compounds with regular star p/q-gon bases can be constructed if p and q have common factors. Example: a star 10/4-antiprism is the compound of two star 5/2-antiprisms. + +See also +Apeirogonal antiprism +Grand antiprism – a four-dimensional polytope +One World Trade Center, a building consisting primarily of an elongated square antiprism +Skew polygon + +References + + Chapter 2: Archimedean polyhedra, prisms and antiprisms + +Nonconvex Prisms and Antiprisms +Paper models of prisms and antiprisms + +Uniform polyhedra +Prismatoid polyhedra +Topological graph theory +Graph drawing +Coxeter groups +Elementary geometry +Polyhedra +Polytopes +Triangulation (geometry) +Knot invariants +The natural history of Africa encompasses some of the well known megafauna of that continent. + +Natural history is the study and description of organisms and natural objects, especially their origins, evolution, and interrelationships. + +Flora +The vegetation of Africa follows very closely the distribution of heat and moisture. The northern and southern temperate zones have a flora distinct from that of the continent generally, which is tropical. In the countries bordering the Mediterranean, there are groves of orange and olive trees, evergreen oaks, cork trees and pines, intermixed with cypresses, myrtles, arbutus and fragrant tree-heaths. + +South of the Atlas range, the conditions alter. The zones of minimum rainfall have a very scanty flora, consisting of plants adapted to resist the great dryness. Characteristic of the Sahara is the date palm, which flourishes where other vegetation can scarcely maintain existence, while in the semidesert regions the acacia, from which gum arabic is obtained, is abundant. + +The more humid regions have a richer vegetation; dense forest where the rainfall is greatest and variations of temperature least, conditions found chiefly on the tropical coasts, and in the west African equatorial basin with its extension towards the upper Nile; and savanna interspersed with trees on the greater part of the plateaus, passing as the desert regions are approached into a scrub vegetation consisting of thorny acacias, etc. Forests also occur on the humid slopes of mountain ranges up to a certain elevation. In the coast regions, the typical tree is the mangrove, which flourishes wherever the soil is of a swamp character. + +The dense forests of West Africa contain, in addition to a great variety of hardwoods, two palms, Elaeis guineensis (oil palm) and Raphia vinifera (bamboo palm), not found, generally speaking, in the savanna regions. Bombax or silk cotton trees attain gigantic proportions in the forests, which are the home of the India rubber-producing plants and of many valuable kinds of timber trees, such as odum (Chlorophora excelsa), ebony, mahogany (Khaya senegalensis), Oldfieldia (Oldfieldia africana) and camwood (Baphia nitida). The climbing plants in the tropical forests are exceedingly luxuriant and the undergrowth or "bush" is extremely dense. + +In the savannas the most characteristic trees are the monkey-bread tree or baobab (Adansonia digitata), doum palm (Hyphaene) and euphorbias. The coffee plant grows wild in such widely separated places as Liberia and southern Ethiopia. The higher mountains have a special flora showing close agreement over wide intervals of space, as well as affinities with the mountain flora of the eastern Mediterranean, the Himalaya and Indo-China. + +In the swamp regions of north-east Africa, papyrus and associated plants, including the soft-wooded ambach, flourished in immense quantities, and little else is found in the way of vegetation. South Africa is largely destitute of forest, save in the lower valleys and coast regions. Tropical flora disappears, and in the semi-desert plains the fleshy, leafless, contorted species of kapsias, mesembryanthemums, aloes and other succulent plants make their appearance. There are, too, valuable timber trees, such as the yellowwood (Podocarpus elongatus), stinkwood (Ocotea), sneezewood or Cape ebony (Pteroxylon utile) and ironwood. Extensive miniature woods of heaths are found in almost endless variety and covered throughout the greater part of the year with innumerable blossoms in which red is very prevalent. Of the grasses of Africa, alfa is very abundant in the plateaus of the Atlas range. + +Fauna + +The fauna again shows the effect of the characteristics of the vegetation. The open savannas are the home of large ungulates, especially antelopes, the giraffe (peculiar to Africa), zebra, buffalo, wild donkey and four species of rhinoceros; and of carnivores, such as the lion, leopard, hyena, etc. The okapi (a genus restricted to Africa) is found only in the dense forests of the Congo basin. Bears are confined to the Atlas region, wolves and foxes to North Africa. The elephant (though its range has become restricted through the attacks of hunters) is found both in the savannas and forest regions, the latter being otherwise poor in large game, though the special habitat of the chimpanzee and gorilla. Baboons and mandrills, with few exceptions, are peculiar to Africa. The single-humped camel, as a domestic animal, is especially characteristic of the northern deserts and steppes. + +The rivers in the tropical zone abound with hippopotami and crocodiles, the former entirely confined to Africa. The vast herds of game, formerly so characteristic of many parts of Africa, have much diminished with the increase of intercourse with the interior. Game reserves have, however, been established in South Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Somaliland, etc., while measures for the protection of wild animals were laid down in an international convention signed in May 1900. + +The ornithology of northern Africa presents a close resemblance to that of southern Europe, scarcely a species being found which does not also occur in the other countries bordering the Mediterranean. Among the birds most characteristic of Africa are the ostrich and the secretarybird. The ostrich is widely dispersed, but is found chiefly in the desert and steppe regions. The secretarybird is common in the south. The weaver birds and their allies, including the long-tailed whydahs, are abundant, as are, among game-birds, the francolin and guineafowl. Many of the smaller birds, such as the sunbirds, bee-eaters, the parrots and kingfishers, as well as the larger plantain-eaters, are noted for the brilliance of their feathers. + +Of reptiles, the lizard and chameleon are common, and there are a number of venomous snakes, though these are not so numerous as in other tropical countries. + +The scorpion is abundant. Of insects, Africa has many thousand different kinds; of these the locust is the proverbial scourge of the continent, and the ravages of the termites are almost incredible. The spread of malaria by means of mosquitoes is common. The tsetse fly, whose bite is fatal to all domestic animals, is common in many districts of South and East Africa. It is found nowhere outside Africa. + +See also + +Ecology + +References +Africa is a continent comprising 63 political territories, representing the largest of the great southward projections from the main mass of Earth's surface. Within its regular outline, it comprises an area of , excluding adjacent islands. Its highest mountain is Mount Kilimanjaro; its largest lake is Lake Victoria. + +Separated from Europe by the Mediterranean Sea and from much of Asia by the Red Sea, Africa is joined to Asia at its northeast extremity by the Isthmus of Suez (which is transected by the Suez Canal), wide. For geopolitical purposes, the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt – east of the Suez Canal – is often considered part of Africa. From the most northerly point, Ras ben Sakka in Tunisia, at 37°21′ N, to the most southerly point, Cape Agulhas in South Africa, 34°51′15″ S, is a distance approximately of ; from Cap-Vert, 17°31′13″W, the westernmost point, to Ras Hafun in the Somali Puntland region, in the Horn of Africa, 51°27′52″ E, the most easterly projection, is a distance (also approximately) of . + +The main structural lines of the continent show both the east-to-west direction characteristic, at least in the eastern hemisphere, of the more northern parts of the world, and the north-to-south direction seen in the southern peninsulas. Africa is thus mainly composed of two segments at right angles, the northern running from east to west, and the southern from north to south. + +Main features + +The average elevation of the continent approximates closely to above sea level, roughly near to the mean elevation of both North and South America, but considerably less than that of Asia, . In contrast with other continents, it is marked by the comparatively small area of either very high or very low ground, lands under occupying an unusually small part of the surface; while not only are the highest elevations inferior to those of Asia or South America, but the area of land over is also quite insignificant, being represented almost entirely by individual peaks and mountain ranges. Moderately elevated tablelands are thus the characteristic feature of the continent, though the surface of these is broken by higher peaks and ridges. (So prevalent are these isolated peaks and ridges that a specialised term—Inselberg-Landschaft, island mountain landscape—has been adopted in Germany to describe this kind of country, thought to be in great part the result of wind action.) + +As a general rule, the higher tablelands lie to the east and south, while a progressive diminution in altitude towards the west and north is observable. Apart from the lowlands and the Atlas mountain range, the continent may be divided into two regions of higher and lower plateaus, the dividing line (somewhat concave to the northwest) running from the middle of the Red Sea to about 6 degrees south on the west coast. + +Africa can be divided into a number of geographic zones: + + The coastal plains—often fringed seawards by mangrove swamps—never stretching far from the coast, apart from the lower courses of streams. Recent alluvial flats are found chiefly in the delta of the more important rivers. Elsewhere, the coastal lowlands merely form the lowest steps of the system of terraces that constitutes the ascent to the inner plateaus. + The Atlas range—orthographically distinct from the rest of the continent, being unconnected with and separated from the south by a depressed and desert area (the Sahara). + +Plateau region + +There are many plateaus in Africa. + +The high southern and eastern plateaus, rarely falling below , have a mean elevation of about . The South African plateau, as far as about 12° S, is bounded east, west and south by bands of high ground which fall steeply to the coasts. On this account South Africa has a general resemblance to an inverted saucer. Due south, the plateau rim is formed by three parallel steps with level ground between them. The largest of these level areas, the Great Karoo, is a dry, barren region, and a large tract of the plateau proper is of a still more arid character and is known as the Kalahari Desert. + +The South African plateau is connected towards East African plateau, with probably a slightly greater average elevation, and marked by some distinct features. It is formed by a widening out of the eastern axis of high ground, which becomes subdivided into a number of zones running north and south and consisting in turn of ranges, tablelands and depressions. The most striking feature is the existence of two great lines of depression, due largely to the subsidence of whole segments of the Earth's crust, the lowest parts of which are occupied by vast lakes. Towards the south the two lines converge and give place to one great valley (occupied by Lake Nyasa), the southern part of which is less distinctly due to rifting and subsidence than the rest of the system. + +Farther north the western hollow, known as the Albertine Rift, is occupied for more than half its length by water, forming the Great Lakes of Tanganyika, Kivu, Lake Edward and Lake Albert, the first-named over long and the longest freshwater lake in the world. Associated with these great valleys are a number of volcanic peaks, the greatest of which occur on a meridional line east of the eastern trough. The eastern branch of the East African Rift, contains much smaller lakes, many of them brackish and without outlet, the only one comparable to those of the western trough being Lake Turkana or Basso Norok. + +A short distance east of this rift valley is Mount Kilimanjaro – with its two peaks Kibo and Mawenzi, the latter being , and the culminating point of the whole continent – and Mount Kenya, which is . Hardly less important is the Ruwenzori Range, over , which lies east of the western trough. Other volcanic peaks rise from the floor of the valleys, some of the Kirunga (Mfumbiro) group, north of Lake Kivu, being still partially active. This could cause most of the cities and states to be flooded with lava and ash. + +The third division of the higher region of Africa is formed by the Ethiopian Highlands, a rugged mass of mountains forming the largest continuous area of its altitude in the whole continent, little of its surface falling below , while the summits reach heights of 4400 m to 4550 m. This block of country lies just west of the line of the great East African Trough, the northern continuation of which passes along its eastern escarpment as it runs up to join the Red Sea. There is, however, in the centre a circular basin occupied by Lake Tsana. + +Both in the east and west of the continent the bordering highlands are continued as strips of plateau parallel to the coast, the Ethiopian mountains being continued northwards along the Red Sea coast by a series of ridges reaching in places a height of . In the west the zone of high land is broader but somewhat lower. The most mountainous districts lie inland from the head of the Gulf of Guinea (Adamawa, etc.), where heights of are reached. Exactly at the head of the gulf the great peak of the Cameroon, on a line of volcanic action continued by the islands to the south-west, has a height of , while Clarence Peak, in Fernando Po, the first of the line of islands, rises to over . Towards the extreme west the Futa Jallon highlands form an important diverging point of rivers, but beyond this, as far as the Atlas chain, the elevated rim of the continent is almost wanting. + +Plains +Much of Africa is made up of plains of the pediplain and etchplain type often occurring as steps. The etchplains are commonly associated with laterite soil and inselbergs. Inselberg-dotted plains are common in Africa including Tanzania, the Anti-Atlas of Morocco, Namibia, and the interior of Angola. One of the most wideaspread plain is the African Surface, a composite etchplain occurring across much of the continent. + +The area between the east and west coast highlands, which north of 17° N is mainly desert, is divided into separate basins by other bands of high ground, one of which runs nearly centrally through North Africa in a line corresponding roughly with the curved axis of the continent as a whole. The best marked of the basins so formed (the Congo Basin) occupies a circular area bisected by the equator, once probably the site of an inland sea. + +Running along the south of desert is the plains region known as the Sahel. + +The arid region, the Sahara — the largest hot desert in the world, covering  — extends from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. Though generally of slight elevation, it contains mountain ranges with peaks rising to Bordered N.W. by the Atlas range, to the northeast a rocky plateau separates it from the Mediterranean; this plateau gives place at the extreme east to the delta of the Nile. That river (see below) pierces the desert without modifying its character. The Atlas range, the north-westerly part of the continent, between its seaward and landward heights encloses elevated steppes in places broad. From the inner slopes of the plateau numerous wadis take a direction towards the Sahara. The greater part of that now desert region is, indeed, furrowed by old water-channels. + +Mountains + +The mountains are an exception to Africa's general landscape. Geographers came up with the idea of "high Africa" and "low Africa" to help distinguish the difference in Geography; "high Africa" extending from Ethiopia down south to South Africa and the Cape of Good Hope while "low Africa" representing the plains of the rest of the continent. The following table gives the details of the chief mountains and ranges of the continent: + +Rivers + +From the outer margin of the African plateaus, a large number of streams run to the sea with comparatively short courses, while the larger rivers flow for long distances on the interior highlands, before breaking through the outer ranges. The main drainage of the continent is to the north and west, or towards the basin of the Atlantic Ocean. + +To the main African rivers belong: Nile (the longest river of Africa), Congo (river with the highest water discharge on the continent) and the Niger, which flows half of its length through the arid areas. The largest lakes are the following: Lake Victoria (Lake Ukerewe), Lake Chad, in the centre of the continent, Lake Tanganyika, lying between the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Tanzania and Zambia. There is also the considerably large Lake Malawi stretching along the eastern border of Malawi. There are also numerous water dams throughout the continent: Kariba on the river of Zambezi, Asuan in Egypt on the river of Nile, and Akosombo, the continent's biggest dam on the Volta River in Ghana (Fobil 2003). +The high lake plateau of the African Great Lakes region contains the headwaters of both the Nile and the Congo. + +The break-up of Gondwana in Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic times led to a major reorganization of the river courses of various large African rivers including the Congo, Niger, Nile, Orange, Limpopo and Zambezi rivers. + +Flowing to the Mediterranean Sea +The upper Nile receives its chief supplies from the mountainous region adjoining the Central African trough in the neighborhood of the equator. From there, streams pour eastward into Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa (covering over 26,000 square m.), and to the west and north into Lake Edward and Lake Albert. To the latter of these, the effluents of the other two lakes add their waters. Issuing from there, the Nile flows northward, and between the latitudes of 7 and 10 degrees north it traverses a vast marshy level, where its course is liable to being blocked by floating vegetation. After receiving the Bahr-el-Ghazal from the west and the Sobat, Blue Nile and Atbara from the Ethiopian Highlands (the chief gathering ground of the flood-water), it separates the great desert with its fertile watershed, and enters the Mediterranean at a vast delta. + +Flowing to the Atlantic Ocean +The most remote head-stream of the Congo is the Chambezi, which flows southwest into the marshy Lake Bangweulu. From this lake issues the Congo, known in its upper course by various names. Flowing first south, it afterwards turns north through Lake Mweru and descends to the forest-clad basin of west equatorial Africa. Traversing this in a majestic northward curve, and receiving vast supplies of water from many great tributaries, it finally turns southwest and cuts a way to the Atlantic Ocean through the western highlands. The area of the Congo basin is greater than that of any other river except the Amazon, while the African inland drainage area is greater than that of any continent but Asia, where the corresponding area is . + +West of Lake Chad is the basin of the Niger, the third major river of Africa. With its principal source in the far west, it reverses the direction of flow exhibited by the Nile and Congo, and ultimately flows into the Atlantic — a fact that eluded European geographers for many centuries. An important branch, however — the Benue — flows from the southeast. + +These four river basins occupy the greater part of the lower plateaus of North and West Africa — the remainder consists of arid regions watered only by intermittent streams that do not reach the sea. + +Of the remaining rivers of the Atlantic basin, the Orange, in the extreme south, brings the drainage from the Drakensberg on the opposite side of the continent, while the Kunene, Kwanza, Ogowe and Sanaga drain the west coastal highlands of the southern limb; the Volta, Komoe, Bandama, Gambia and Senegal the highlands of the western limb. North of the Senegal, for over of coast, the arid region reaches to the Atlantic. Farther north are the streams, with comparatively short courses, reaching the Atlantic and Mediterranean from the Atlas mountains. + +Flowing to the Indian Ocean +Of the rivers flowing to the Indian Ocean, the only one draining any large part of the interior plateaus is the Zambezi, whose western branches rise in the western coastal highlands. The main stream has its rise in 11°21′3″ S 24°22′ E, at an elevation of . It flows to the west and south for a considerable distance before turning eastward. All the largest tributaries, including the Shire, the outflow of Lake Nyasa, flow down the southern slopes of the band of high ground stretching across the continent from 10° to 12° S. In the southwest, the Zambezi system interlaces with that of the Taukhe (or Tioghe), from which it at times receives surplus water. The rest of the water of the Taukhe, known in its middle course as the Okavango, is lost in a system of swamps and saltpans that was formerly centred in Lake Ngami, now dried up. + +Farther south, the Limpopo drains a portion of the interior plateau, but breaks through the bounding highlands on the side of the continent nearest its source. The Rovuma, Rufiji and Tana principally drain the outer slopes of the African Great Lakes highlands. + +In the Horn region to the north, the Jubba and the Shebelle rivers begin in the Ethiopian Highlands. These rivers mainly flow southwards, with the Jubba emptying in the Indian Ocean. The Shebelle River reaches a point to the southwest. After that, it consists of swamps and dry reaches before finally disappearing in the desert terrain near the Jubba River. Another large stream, the Hawash, rising in the Ethiopian mountains, is lost in a saline depression near the Gulf of Aden. + +Inland basins +Between the basins of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, there is an area of inland drainage along the centre of the Ethiopian plateau, directed chiefly into the lakes in the Great Rift Valley. The largest river is the Omo, which, fed by the rains of the Ethiopian highlands, carries down a large body of water into Lake Turkana. The rivers of Africa are generally obstructed either by bars at their mouths, or by cataracts at no great distance upstream. But when these obstacles have been overcome, the rivers and lakes afford a vast network of navigable waters. + +North of the Congo basin, and separated from it by a broad undulation of the surface, is the basin of Lake Chad — a flat-shored, shallow lake filled principally by the Chari coming from the southeast. + +Lakes +The principal lakes of Africa are situated in the African Great Lakes plateau. +The lakes found within the Great Rift Valley have steep sides and are very deep. +This is the case with the two largest of the type, Tanganyika and Nyasa, the latter with depths of . + +Others, however, are shallow, and hardly reach the steep sides of the valleys in the dry season. +Such are Lake Rukwa, in a subsidiary depression north of Nyasa, and Eiassi and Manyara in the system of the Great Rift Valley. +Lakes of the broad type are of moderate depth, the deepest sounding in Lake Victoria being under . + +Besides the African Great Lakes, the principal lakes on the continent are: Lake Chad, in the northern inland watershed; Bangweulu and Mweru, traversed by the head-stream of the Congo; and Lake Mai-Ndombe and Ntomba (Mantumba), within the great bend of that river. All, except possibly Mweru, are more or less shallow, and Lake Chad appears to be drying up. + +Divergent opinions have been held as to the mode of origin of the African Great Lakes, especially Tanganyika, which some geologists have considered to represent an old arm of the sea, dating from a time when the whole central Congo basin was under water; others holding that the lake water has accumulated in a depression caused by subsidence. The former view is based on the existence in the lake of organisms of a decidedly marine type. They include jellyfish, molluscs, prawns, crabs, etc. + +Islands +With the exception of Madagascar, the African islands are small. Madagascar, with an area of , is, after Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo, the fourth largest island on the Earth. It lies in the Indian Ocean, off the southeast coast of the continent, from which it is separated by the deep Mozambique Channel, wide at its narrowest point. Madagascar in its general structure, as in flora and fauna, forms a connecting link between Africa and southern Asia. East of Madagascar are the small islands of Mauritius and Réunion. There are also islands in the Gulf of Guinea on which lies the Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe (islands of São Tomé and Príncipe). Part of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea is lying on the island of Bioko (with the capital Malabo and the town of Lubu) and the island of Annobón. Socotra lies E.N.E. of Cape Guardafui. Off the north-west coast are the Canary and Cape Verde archipelagoes. which, like some small islands in the Gulf of Guinea, are of volcanic origin. The South Atlantic Islands of Saint Helena and Ascension are classed as Africa but are situated on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge half way to South America. + +Climatic conditions + +Lying almost entirely within the tropics, and equally to north and south of the equator, Africa does not show excessive variations of temperature. + +Great heat is experienced in the lower plains and desert regions of North Africa, removed by the great width of the continent from the influence of the ocean, and here, too, the contrast between day and night, and between summer and winter, is greatest. (The rarity of the air and the great radiation during the night cause the temperature in the Sahara to fall occasionally to freezing point.) +Farther south, the heat is to some extent modified by the moisture brought from the ocean, and by the greater elevation of a large part of the surface, especially in East Africa, where the range of temperature is wider than in the Congo basin or on the Guinea coast. +In the extreme north and south the climate is a warm temperate one, the northern countries being on the whole hotter and drier than those in the southern zone; the south of the continent being narrower than the north, the influence of the surrounding ocean is more felt. + +The most important climatic differences are due to variations in the amount of rainfall. The wide heated plains of the Sahara, and in a lesser degree the corresponding zone of the Kalahari in the south, have an exceedingly scanty rainfall, the winds which blow over them from the ocean losing part of their moisture as they pass over the outer highlands, and becoming constantly drier owing to the heating effects of the burning soil of the interior; while the scarcity of mountain ranges in the more central parts likewise tends to prevent condensation. In the inter-tropical zone of summer precipitation, the rainfall is greatest when the sun is vertical or soon after. It is therefore greatest of all near the equator, where the sun is twice vertical, and less in the direction of both tropics. + +The rainfall zones are, however, somewhat deflected from a due west-to-east direction, the drier northern conditions extending southwards along the east coast, and those of the south northwards along the west. Within the equatorial zone certain areas, especially on the shores of the Gulf of Guinea and in the upper Nile basin, have an intensified rainfall, but this rarely approaches that of the rainiest regions of the world. The rainiest district in all Africa is a strip of coastland west of Mount Cameroon, where there is a mean annual rainfall of about as compared with a mean of at Cherrapunji, in Meghalaya, India. + +The two distinct rainy seasons of the equatorial zone, where the sun is vertical at half-yearly intervals, become gradually merged into one in the direction of the tropics, where the sun is overhead but once. Snow falls on all the higher mountain ranges, and on the highest the climate is thoroughly Alpine. + +The countries bordering the Sahara are much exposed to a very dry wind, full of fine particles of sand, blowing from the desert towards the sea. Known in Egypt as the khamsin, on the Mediterranean as the sirocco, it is called on the Guinea coast the harmattan. This wind is not invariably hot; its great dryness causes so much evaporation that cold is not infrequently the result. Similar dry winds blow from the Kalahari Desert in the south. On the eastern coast the monsoons of the Indian Ocean are regularly felt, and on the southeast hurricanes are occasionally experienced. + +Health +The climate of Africa lends itself to certain environmental diseases, the most serious of which are: malaria, sleeping sickness and yellow fever. Malaria is the most deadly environmental disease in Africa. It is transmitted by a genus of mosquito (anopheles mosquito) native to Africa, and can be contracted over and over again. There is not yet a vaccine for malaria, which makes it difficult to prevent the disease from spreading in Africa. Recently, the dissemination of mosquito netting has helped lower the rate of malaria. + +Yellow fever is a disease also transmitted by mosquitoes native to Africa. Unlike malaria, it cannot be contracted more than once. Like chicken pox, it is a disease that tends to be severe the later in life a person contracts the disease. + +Sleeping sickness, or African trypanosomiasis, is a disease that usually affects animals, but has been known to be fatal to some humans as well. It is transmitted by the tsetse fly and is found almost exclusively in Sub-Saharan Africa. This disease has had a significant impact on African development not because of its deadly nature, like Malaria, but because it has prevented Africans from pursuing agriculture (as the sleeping sickness would kill their livestock). + +Extreme points + +See also + +List of national parks in Africa +Outline of Africa#Geography of Africa +The Horn of Africa + +Notes + +Further reading + +External links + + + + + + +Geology of Africa +Africa +Approval voting is an electoral system in which voters can select many candidates instead of selecting only one candidate. + +Description +Approval voting ballots show a list of all the candidates running and each voter indicates support for as many candidates as they see fit. Final tallies show how many votes each candidate received, and the winner is the candidate with the most support. + +Effect on elections +Approval voting advocates Steven Brams and Dudley R. Herschbach predict that Approval should increase voter participation, prevent minor-party candidates from being spoilers, and reduce negative campaigning. One study showed that Approval would not have chosen the same two winners as plurality voting (Chirac and Le Pen) in the first round of the 2002 French presidential election; it instead would have chosen Chirac and Jospin as the top two candidates to proceed to the runoff. + +Le Pen lost by an overwhelming margin in the runoff, 82.2% to 17.8%, a sign that the true top two candidates had not been found. In the approval voting survey primary, Chirac took first place with 36.7%, compared to Jospin at 32.9%. Le Pen, in that study, received 25.1% and so would not have made the cut to the second round. In the real primary election, the top three were Chirac, 19.9%, Le Pen, 16.9%, and Jospin, 16.2%. A study of various "evaluative voting" methods (Approval and score voting) during the 2012 French presidential election showed that "unifying" candidates tended to do better, and polarizing candidates did worse, as compared to under plurality voting. + +A generalized version of the Burr dilemma applies to Approval when two candidates are appealing to the same subset of voters. Although Approval differs from the voting system used in the Burr dilemma, Approval can still leave candidates and voters with the generalized dilemma of whether to compete or cooperate. But, Approval satisfies the favorite betrayal criterion, which means that it is always safe for a voter to give their true favorite maximum support. + +While in the modern era there have been relatively few competitive Approval elections where tactical voting is more likely, Brams argues that Approval usually elects Condorcet winners in practice. + +Operational impacts + + Simple to tally—Approval ballots can be counted by some existing machines designed for plurality elections, as ballots are cast, so that final tallies are immediately available after the election, with relatively few if any upgrades to equipment. + Just one round—Approval can remove the need for multiple rounds of voting, such as a primary or a run-off, simplifying the election process. + +Usage + +Current +The Latvian parliament uses approval voting within open list proportional representation. + +In 2018, Fargo, North Dakota, passed a local ballot initiative adopting Approval for the city's local elections, and it was used to elect officials in June 2020, becoming the first United States city and jurisdiction to adopt Approval. + +In November 2020, St. Louis, Missouri, passed Proposition D to authorize a variant of Approval (as unified primary) for municipal offices. + +History + +Robert J. Weber coined the term "Approval Voting" in 1971. It was more fully published in 1978 by political scientist Steven Brams and mathematician Peter Fishburn. + +Historically, several voting methods that incorporate aspects of Approval have been used: + + Approval was used for papal conclaves between 1294 and 1621, with an average of about forty cardinals engaging in repeated rounds of voting until one candidate was listed on at least two-thirds of ballots. + In the 13th through 18th centuries, the Republic of Venice elected the Doge of Venice using a multi-stage process that featured random selection and voting that allowed approval of multiple candidates and required a supermajority. + According to Steven J. Brams, Approval was used for unspecified elections in 19th century England. + The selection of the Secretary-General of the United Nations has involved "straw poll" rounds of approval polling to help discover and build a consensus before a formal vote is held in the Security Council. The United Nations Secretary-General selection, 2006 indicated that South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon was the only candidate to be acceptable to all five permanent members of the Security Council, which led to the withdrawal of India's Shashi Tharoor, who had the highest overall approval rate. +Approval was used in Greek legislative elections from 1864 to 1923, when it was replaced with proportional representation. + +Political organizations and jurisdictions +Approval has been used in privately administered nomination contests by the Independent Party of Oregon in 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2016. Oregon is a fusion voting state, and the party has cross-nominated legislators and statewide officeholders using this method; its 2016 presidential preference primary did not identify a potential nominee due to no candidate earning more than 32% support. The party switched to using STAR voting in 2020. + +It is also used in internal elections by the American Solidarity Party; the Green Parties of Texas and Ohio; the Libertarian National Committee; the Libertarian parties of Texas, Colorado, Arizona, and New York; the US Modern Whig Party, Alliance 90/The Greens in Germany; and the Czech and German Pirate Party. + +In 2018, Fargo, North Dakota passed a ballot initiative adopting Approval for local elections, becoming the first U.S. city and jurisdiction to adopt Approval. (Previously in 2015, a Fargo city commissioner election had suffered from six-way vote-splitting, resulting in a candidate winning with an unconvincing 22% plurality of the vote.) + +The first election was held June 9, 2020, selecting two city commissioners, from seven candidates on the ballot. Both winners received over 50% approval, with an average 2.3 approvals per ballot, and 62% of voters supported the change to Approval in a poll. A poll by opponents of Approval was conducted to test whether voters had in fact voted strategically according to the Burr dilemma. They found that 30% of voters who bullet voted did so for strategic reasons, while 57% did so because it was their sincere opinion. Fargo's second Approval election took place in June 2022, for mayor and city commission. The incumbent mayor was re-elected with an estimated 65% approval, with voters expressing 1.6 approvals per ballot. + +In 2020, St. Louis, Missouri passed an initiative to adopt Approval followed by a top-two runoff (see Unified primary), thus becoming the second U.S. city to adopt Approval and the first to use a variant of it. The first such primary was held in March 2021, with voters expressing 1.1 to 1.6 approvals per ballot, in races with more than two candidates. + +Other organizations +The idea of approval was adopted by X. Hu and Lloyd Shapley in 2003 in studying authority distribution in organizations. + +Approval has been adopted by several societies: the Society for Social Choice and Welfare (1992), Mathematical Association of America (1986), the American Mathematical Society, the Institute of Management Sciences (1987) (now the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences), the American Statistical Association (1987), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (1987). The IEEE board in 2002 rescinded its decision to use Approval. IEEE Executive Director Daniel J. Senese stated that Approval was abandoned because "few of our members were using it and it was felt that it was no longer needed." Because none of these associations report results to their members and the public, it is difficult to evaluate Senese's claim and whether it is also true of other associations; Steven Brams' analysis of the 5-candidate 1987 Mathematical Association of America presidential election shows that 79% of voters cast a ballot for one candidate, 16% for 2 candidates, 5% for 3, and 1% for 4, with the winner earning the approval of 1,267 (32%) of 3,924 voters. + +Approval also can be used in social scenarios as a fairer, but still quick system compared to a First-Past-The-Post equivalent, being able to avoid a spoiler effect while being very quick to calculate. + +Strategic voting + +Overview + +Approval voting allows voters to select all the candidates whom they consider to be reasonable choices. + +Strategic Approval differs from ranked voting (aka preferential voting) methods where voters might reverse the preference order of two options, which if done on a larger scale can cause an unpopular candidate to win. Strategic Approval, with more than two options, involves the voter changing their approval threshold. The voter decides which options to give the same rating, even if they were to have a preference order between them. This leaves a tactical concern any voter has for approving their second-favorite candidate, in the case that there are three or more candidates. Approving their second-favorite means the voter harms their favorite candidate's chance to win. Not approving their second-favorite means the voter helps the candidate they least desire to beat their second-favorite and perhaps win. + +Approval allows for bullet voting and compromising, while it is immune to push-over and burying. + +Bullet voting occurs when a voter approves only candidate "a" instead of both "a" and "b" for the reason that voting for "b" can cause "a" to lose. The voter would be satisfied with either "a" or "b" but has a moderate preference for "a". Were "b" to win, this hypothetical voter would still be satisfied. If supporters of both "a" and "b" do this, it could cause candidate "c" to win. This creates the "chicken dilemma", as supporters of "a" and "b" are playing chicken as to which will stop strategic voting first, before both of these candidates lose. + +Compromising occurs when a voter approves an additional candidate who is otherwise considered unacceptable to the voter to prevent an even worse alternative from winning. + +Sincere voting + +Approval experts describe sincere votes as those "... that directly reflect the true preferences of a voter, i.e., that do not report preferences 'falsely. They also give a specific definition of a sincere approval vote in terms of the voter's ordinal preferences as being any vote that, if it votes for one candidate, it also votes for any more preferred candidate. This definition allows a sincere vote to treat strictly preferred candidates the same, ensuring that every voter has at least one sincere vote. The definition also allows a sincere vote to treat equally preferred candidates differently. When there are two or more candidates, every voter has at least three sincere approval votes to choose from. Two of those sincere approval votes do not distinguish between any of the candidates: vote for none of the candidates and vote for all of the candidates. When there are three or more candidates, every voter has more than one sincere approval vote that distinguishes between the candidates. + +Examples + +Based on the definition above, if there are four candidates, A, B, C, and D, and a voter has a strict preference order, preferring A to B to C to D, then the following are the voter's possible sincere approval votes: +vote for A, B, C, and D +vote for A, B, and C +vote for A and B +vote for A +vote for no candidates + +If the voter instead equally prefers B and C, while A is still the most preferred candidate and D is the least preferred candidate, then all of the above votes are sincere and the following combination is also a sincere vote: +vote for A and C + +The decision between the above ballots is equivalent to deciding an arbitrary "approval cutoff." All candidates preferred to the cutoff are approved, all candidates less preferred are not approved, and any candidates equal to the cutoff may be approved or not arbitrarily. + +Sincere strategy with ordinal preferences + +A sincere voter with multiple options for voting sincerely still has to choose which sincere vote to use. Voting strategy is a way to make that choice, in which case strategic Approval includes sincere voting, rather than being an alternative to it. This differs from other voting systems that typically have a unique sincere vote for a voter. + +When there are three or more candidates, the winner of an Approval election can change, depending on which sincere votes are used. In some cases, Approval can sincerely elect any one of the candidates, including a Condorcet winner and a Condorcet loser, without the voter preferences changing. To the extent that electing a Condorcet winner and not electing a Condorcet loser is considered desirable outcomes for a voting system, Approval can be considered vulnerable to sincere, strategic voting. In one sense, conditions where this can happen are robust and are not isolated cases. On the other hand, the variety of possible outcomes has also been portrayed as a virtue of Approval, representing the flexibility and responsiveness of Approval, not just to voter ordinal preferences, but cardinal utilities as well. + +Dichotomous preferences + +Approval avoids the issue of multiple sincere votes in special cases when voters have dichotomous preferences. For a voter with dichotomous preferences, Approval is strategy-proof (also known as strategy-free). When all voters have dichotomous preferences and vote the sincere, strategy-proof vote, Approval is guaranteed to elect the Condorcet winner, if one exists. However, having dichotomous preferences when there are three or more candidates is not typical. It is an unlikely situation for all voters to have dichotomous preferences when there are more than a few voters. + +Having dichotomous preferences means that a voter has bi-level preferences for the candidates. All of the candidates are divided into two groups such that the voter is indifferent between any two candidates in the same group and any candidate in the top-level group is preferred to any candidate in the bottom-level group. A voter that has strict preferences between three candidates—prefers A to B and B to C—does not have dichotomous preferences. + +Being strategy-proof for a voter means that there is a unique way for the voter to vote that is a strategically best way to vote, regardless of how others vote. In Approval, the strategy-proof vote, if it exists, is a sincere vote. + +Approval threshold + +Another way to deal with multiple sincere votes is to augment the ordinal preference model with an approval or acceptance threshold. An approval threshold divides all of the candidates into two sets, those the voter approves of and those the voter does not approve of. A voter can approve of more than one candidate and still prefer one approved candidate to another approved candidate. Acceptance thresholds are similar. With such a threshold, a voter simply votes for every candidate that meets or exceeds the threshold. + +With threshold voting, it is still possible to not elect the Condorcet winner and instead elect the Condorcet loser when they both exist. However, according to Steven Brams, this represents a strength rather than a weakness of Approval. Without providing specifics, he argues that the pragmatic judgements of voters about which candidates are acceptable should take precedence over the Condorcet criterion and other social choice criteria. + +Strategy with cardinal utilities + +Voting strategy under approval is guided by two competing features of Approval. On the one hand, Approval fails the later-no-harm criterion, so voting for a candidate can cause that candidate to win instead of a candidate more preferred by that voter. On the other hand, Approval satisfies the monotonicity criterion, so not voting for a candidate can never help that candidate win, but can cause that candidate to lose to a less preferred candidate. Either way, the voter can risk getting a less preferred election winner. A voter can balance the risk-benefit trade-offs by considering the voter's cardinal utilities, particularly via the von Neumann–Morgenstern utility theorem, and the probabilities of how others vote. + +A rational voter model described by Myerson and Weber specifies an Approval strategy that votes for those candidates that have a positive prospective rating. This strategy is optimal in the sense that it maximizes the voter's expected utility, subject to the constraints of the model and provided the number of other voters is sufficiently large. + +An optimal approval vote always votes for the most preferred candidate and not for the least preferred candidate. However, an optimal vote can require voting for a candidate and not voting for a more preferred candidate if there 4 candidates or more. + +Other strategies are also available and coincide with the optimal strategy in special situations. For example: + Vote for the candidates that have above average utility. This strategy coincides with the optimal strategy if the voter thinks that all pairwise ties are equally likely + Vote for any candidate that is more preferred than the expected winner and also vote for the expected winner if the expected winner is more preferred than the expected runner-up. This strategy coincides with the optimal strategy if there are three or fewer candidates or if the pivot probability for a tie between the expected winner and expected runner-up is sufficiently large compared to the other pivot probabilities. This strategy, if used by all voters implies at equilibrium the election of the Condorcet winner whenever it exists. +Vote for the most preferred candidate only. This strategy coincides with the optimal strategy when there is only one candidate with a positive prospective rating. + +Another strategy is to vote for the top half of the candidates, the candidates that have an above-median utility. When the voter thinks that others are balancing their votes randomly and evenly, the strategy maximizes the voter's power or efficacy, meaning that it maximizes the probability that the voter will make a difference in deciding which candidate wins. + +Optimal strategic Approval fails to satisfy the Condorcet criterion and can elect a Condorcet loser. Strategic Approval can guarantee electing the Condorcet winner in some special circumstances. For example, if all voters are rational and cast a strategically optimal vote based on a common knowledge of how all the other voters vote except for small-probability, statistically independent errors in recording the votes, then the winner will be the Condorcet winner, if one exists. + +Strategy examples +In the example election described here, assume that the voters in each faction share the following von Neumann–Morgenstern utilities, fitted to the interval between 0 and 100. The utilities are consistent with the rankings given earlier and reflect a strong preference each faction has for choosing its city, compared to weaker preferences for other factors such as the distance to the other cities. + +Using these utilities, voters choose their optimal strategic votes based on what they think the various pivot probabilities are for pairwise ties. In each of the scenarios summarized below, all voters share a common set of pivot probabilities. + +In the first scenario, voters all choose their votes based on the assumption that all pairwise ties are equally likely. As a result, they vote for any candidate with an above-average utility. Most voters vote for only their first choice. Only the Knoxville faction also votes for its second choice, Chattanooga. As a result, the winner is Memphis, the Condorcet loser, with Chattanooga coming in second place. In this scenario, the winner has minority approval (more voters disapproved than approved) and all the others had even less support, reflecting the position that no choice gave an above-average utility to a majority of voters. + +In the second scenario, all of the voters expect that Memphis is the likely winner, that Chattanooga is the likely runner-up, and that the pivot probability for a Memphis-Chattanooga tie is much larger than the pivot probabilities of any other pair-wise ties. As a result, each voter votes for any candidate they prefer more than the leading candidate, and also vote for the leading candidate if they prefer that candidate more than the expected runner-up. Each remaining scenario follows a similar pattern of expectations and voting strategies. + +In the second scenario, there is a three-way tie for first place. This happens because the expected winner, Memphis, was the Condorcet loser and was also ranked last by any voter that did not rank it first. + +Only in the last scenario does the actual winner and runner-up match the expected winner and runner-up. As a result, this can be considered a stable strategic voting scenario. In the language of game theory, this is an "equilibrium." In this scenario, the winner is also the Condorcet winner. + +Dichotomous cutoff +As this voting method is cardinal rather than ordinal, it is possible to model voters in a way that does not simplify to an ordinal method. Modelling voters with a 'dichotomous cutoff' assumes a voter has an immovable approval cutoff, while having meaningful cardinal preferences. This means that rather than voting for their top 3 candidates, or all candidates above the average approval (which may result in their vote changing if one candidate drops out, resulting in a system that does not satisfy IIA), they instead vote for all candidates above a certain approval 'cutoff' that they have decided. This cutoff does not change, regardless of which and how many candidates are running, so when all available alternatives are either above or below the cutoff, the voter votes for all or none of the candidates, despite preferring some over others. This could be imagined to reflect a case where many voters become disenfranchised and apathetic if they see no candidates they approve of. In a case such as this, many voters may have an internal cutoff, and would not simply vote for their top 3, or the above average candidates, although that is not to say that it is necessarily entirely immovable. + +For example, in this scenario, voters are voting for candidates with approval above 50% (bold signifies that the voters voted for the candidate): + +C wins with 65% of the voters' approval, beating B with 60%, D with 40% and A with 35% + +If voters' threshold for receiving a vote is that the candidate has an above average approval, or they vote for their two most approved of candidates, this is not a dichotomous cutoff, as this can change if candidates drop out. On the other hand, if voters' threshold for receiving a vote is fixed (say 50%), this is a dichotomous cutoff, and satisfies IIA as shown below: + +B now wins with 60%, beating C with 55% and D with 40% + +With dichotomous cutoff, C still wins. + +B now wins with 70%, beating C and A with 65% + +With dichotomous cutoff, C still wins. + +Compliance with voting system criteria + +Most of the mathematical criteria by which voting systems are compared were formulated for voters with ordinal preferences. In this case, approval voting requires voters to make an additional decision of where to put their approval cutoff (see examples above). Depending on how this decision is made, Approval satisfies different sets of criteria. + +There is no ultimate authority on which criteria should be considered, but the following are criteria that many voting theorists accept and consider desirable: + Unrestricted domain—A voter may have any preference ordering among the alternatives. + Non-dictatorship—There does not exist a single voter whose preference for the alternatives always determines the outcome regardless of other voters' preferences. + Pareto efficiency—If every voter prefers candidate A to all other candidates, then A must be elected. (from Arrow's impossibility theorem) + Majority criterion—If there exists a majority that ranks (or rates) a single candidate higher than all other candidates, does that candidate always win? + Monotonicity criterion—Is it impossible to cause a winning candidate to lose by ranking that candidate higher, or to cause a losing candidate to win by ranking that candidate lower? + Consistency criterion—If the electorate is divided in two and a choice wins in both parts, does it always win overall? + Participation criterion—Is voting honestly always better than not voting at all? (This is grouped with the distinct but similar Consistency Criterion in the table below.) + Condorcet criterion—If a candidate beats every other candidate in pairwise comparison, does that candidate always win? (This implies the majority criterion, above) + Condorcet loser criterion—If a candidate loses to every other candidate in pairwise comparison, does that candidate always lose? + Independence of irrelevant alternatives—Is the outcome the same after adding or removing non-winning candidates? + Independence of clones criterion—Is the outcome the same if candidates identical to existing candidates are added? + Reversal symmetry—If individual preferences of each voter are inverted, does the original winner never win? + +Approval satisfies the mutual majority criterion and Smith criterion when voters' preferences are dichotomous; this is because the winner will be someone that the most voters prefer above all others, or that ties with other candidates but the group of tied candidates is preferred by more voters than any candidate not in the group. + +See also +Some variants and generalizations of approval voting are: + Multiwinner approval voting — multiple candidates may be elected, instead of just one. + Fractional approval voting — the election outcome is a distribution - assigning a fraction to each candidate. + Score voting (also called range voting) — is simply approval voting where voters can give a wider range of scores than 0 or 1 (e.g. 0-5 or 0-7). + Combined approval voting — form of score voting with three levels that uses a scale of (-1, 0, +1) or (0, 1, 2). + D21 – Janeček method — limited to two approval and one negative vote per voter. + +Notes + +References + +Sources + +External links + + Approval Voting Article by The Center for Election Science + Could Approval Voting Prevent Electoral Disaster? Video by Big Think + Approval Voting on Dichotomous Preferences Article by Marc Vorsatz. + Scoring Rules on Dichotomous Preferences Article by Marc Vorsatz. + The Arithmetic of Voting article by Guy Ottewell + Critical Strategies Under Approval Voting: Who Gets Ruled In And Ruled Out Article by Steven J. Brams and M. Remzi Sanver. + Quick and Easy Voting for Normal People YouTube video + +Single-winner electoral systems +Cardinal electoral systems +Monotonic electoral systems +Approval voting +Rating systems +Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the United States. + +One of three universities governed by the Arizona Board of Regents, ASU is a member of the Association of American Universities and classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity". ASU has nearly 145,000 students attending classes, with more than 62,000 students attending online, and 112,000 undergraduates and nearly 30,000 postgraduates across its five campuses and four regional learning centers throughout Arizona. ASU offers 350 degree options from its 17 colleges and more than 170 cross-discipline centers and institutes for undergraduates students, as well as more than 400 graduate degree and certificate programs. + +The Arizona State Sun Devils compete in 26 varsity-level sports in the NCAA Division I Pac-12 Conference and is home to over 1,100 registered student organizations. Sun Devil teams have won 165 national championships, including 24 NCAA trophies. 179 Sun Devils have made Olympic teams, winning 60 Olympic medals: 25 gold, 12 silver, and 23 bronze. + + ASU reported that its faculty of more than 5,000 scholars included 5 Nobel laureates, 10 MacArthur Fellows, 10 Pulitzer Prize winners, 10 National Academy of Engineering members, 23 National Academy of Sciences members, 26 American Academy of Arts and Sciences members, 41 Guggenheim fellows, 157 National Endowment for the Humanities fellows, and 281 Fulbright Program American Scholars. + +History + +1885–1929 + +Arizona State University was established as the Territorial Normal School at Tempe on March 12, 1885, when the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature passed an act to create a normal school to train teachers for the Arizona Territory. The campus consisted of a single, four-room schoolhouse on a 20-acre plot largely donated by Tempe residents George and Martha Wilson. Classes began with 33 students on February 8, 1886. The curriculum evolved over the years and the name was changed several times; the institution was also known as Tempe Normal School of Arizona (1889–1903), Tempe Normal School (1903–1925), Tempe State Teachers College (1925–1929), Arizona State Teachers College (1929–1945), Arizona State College (1945–1958) and, by a 2–1 margin of the state's voters, Arizona State University in 1958. + +In 1923, the school stopped offering high school courses and added a high school diploma to the admissions requirements. In 1925, the school became the Tempe State Teachers College and offered four-year Bachelor of Education degrees as well as two-year teaching certificates. In 1929, the 9th Arizona State Legislature authorized Bachelor of Arts in Education degrees as well, and the school was renamed the Arizona State Teachers College. Under the 30-year tenure of president Arthur John Matthews (1900–1930), the school was given all-college student status. The first dormitories built in the state were constructed under his supervision in 1902. Of the 18 buildings constructed while Matthews was president, six are still in use. Matthews envisioned an "evergreen campus", with many shrubs brought to the campus, and implemented the planting of 110 Mexican Fan Palms on what is now known as Palm Walk, a century-old landmark of the Tempe campus. + +During the Great Depression, Ralph Waldo Swetman was hired to succeed President Matthews, coming to Arizona State Teachers College in 1930 from Humboldt State Teachers College where he had served as president. He served a three-year term, during which he focused on improving teacher-training programs. During his tenure, enrollment at the college doubled, topping the 1,000 mark for the first time. Matthews also conceived of a self-supported summer session at the school at Arizona State Teachers College, a first for the school. + +1930–1989 + +In 1933, Grady Gammage, then president of Arizona State Teachers College at Flagstaff, became president of Arizona State Teachers College at Tempe, beginning a tenure that would last for nearly 28 years, second only to Swetman's 30 years at the college's helm. Like President Arthur John Matthews before him, Gammage oversaw the construction of several buildings on the Tempe campus. He also guided the development of the university's graduate programs; the first Master of Arts in Education was awarded in 1938, the first Doctor of Education degree in 1954 and 10 non-teaching master's degrees were approved by the Arizona Board of Regents in 1956. During his presidency, the school's name was changed to Arizona State College in 1945, and finally to Arizona State University in 1958. At the time, two other names were considered: Tempe University and State University at Tempe. Among Gammage's greatest achievements in Tempe was the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed construction of what is Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium/ASU Gammage. One of the university's hallmark buildings, ASU Gammage was completed in 1964, five years after the president's (and Wright's) death. + +Gammage was succeeded by Harold D. Richardson, who had served the school earlier in a variety of roles beginning in 1939, including director of graduate studies, college registrar, dean of instruction, dean of the College of Education and academic vice president. Although filling the role of acting president of the university for just nine months (Dec. 1959 to Sept. 1960), Richardson laid the groundwork for the future recruitment and appointment of well-credentialed research science faculty. + +By the 1960s, under G. Homer Durham, the university's 11th president, ASU began to expand its curriculum by establishing several new colleges and, in 1961, the Arizona Board of Regents authorized doctoral degree programs in six fields, including Doctor of Philosophy. By the end of his nine-year tenure, ASU had more than doubled enrollment, reporting 23,000 in 1969. + +The next three presidents—Harry K. Newburn (1969–71), John W. Schwada (1971–81) and J. Russell Nelson (1981–89), including and Interim President Richard Peck (1989)—led the university to increased academic stature, the establishment of the ASU West campus in 1984 and its subsequent construction in 1986, a focus on computer-assisted learning and research, and rising enrollment. + +1990–present + +Under the leadership of Lattie F. Coor, president from 1990 to 2002, ASU grew through the creation of the Polytechnic campus and extended education sites. Increased commitment to diversity, quality in undergraduate education, research, and economic development occurred over his 12-year tenure. Part of Coor's legacy to the university was a successful fundraising campaign: through private donations, more than $500 million was invested in areas that would significantly impact the future of ASU. Among the campaign's achievements were the naming and endowing of Barrett, The Honors College, and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts; the creation of many new endowed faculty positions; and hundreds of new scholarships and fellowships. + +In 2002, Michael M. Crow became the university's 16th president. At his inauguration, he outlined his vision for transforming ASU into a "New American University"—one that would be open and inclusive, and set a goal for the university to meet Association of American Universities criteria and to become a member. Crow initiated the idea of transforming ASU into "One university in many places"—a single institution comprising several campuses, sharing students, faculty, staff and accreditation. Subsequent reorganizations combined academic departments, consolidated colleges and schools, and reduced staff and administration as the university expanded its West and Polytechnic campuses. ASU's Downtown Phoenix campus was also expanded, with several colleges and schools relocating there. The university established learning centers throughout the state, including the ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City and programs in Thatcher, Yuma, and Tucson. Students at these centers can choose from several ASU degree and certificate programs. + +During Crow's tenure, and aided by hundreds of millions of dollars in donations, ASU began a years-long research facility capital building effort that led to the establishment of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, and several large interdisciplinary research buildings. Along with the research facilities, the university faculty was expanded, including the addition of five Nobel Laureates. Since 2002, the university's research expenditures have tripled and more than 1.5 million square feet of space has been added to the university's research facilities. + +The economic downturn that began in 2008 took a particularly hard toll on Arizona, resulting in large cuts to ASU's budget. In response to these cuts, ASU capped enrollment, closed some four dozen academic programs, combined academic departments, consolidated colleges and schools, and reduced university faculty, staff and administrators; with an economic recovery underway in 2011, however, the university continued its campaign to expand the West and Polytechnic Campuses, and establish a low-cost, teaching-focused extension campus in Lake Havasu City. As of 2011, an article in Slate reported that, "the bottom line looks good", noting that: + +On May 1, 2014, ASU was listed as one of fifty-five higher education institutions under investigation by the Office of Civil Rights "for possible violations of federal law over the handling of sexual violence and harassment complaints" by Barack Obama's White House Task Force To Protect Students from Sexual Assault. The publicly announced investigation followed two Title IX suits. In July 2014, a group of at least nine current and former students who alleged they were harassed or assaulted asked the federal investigation be expanded. +In August 2014 ASU president Michael Crow appointed a task force comprising faculty and staff, students, and members of the university police force to review the university's efforts to address sexual violence. Crow accepted the recommendations of the task force in November 2014. + +In 2015, the Thunderbird School of Global Management became the fifth ASU campus, as the Thunderbird School of Global Management at ASU. Partnerships for education and research with Mayo Clinic established collaborative degree programs in health care and law, and shared administrator positions, laboratories and classes at the Mayo Clinic Arizona campus. + +The Beus Center for Law and Society, the new home of ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, opened in fall 2016 on the Downtown Phoenix campus, relocating faculty and students from the Tempe campus to the state capital. + +Organization and administration + +The Arizona Board of Regents governs Arizona State University as well as the state's other public universities; University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University. The Board of Regents is composed of 12 members including 11 who are voting members, and one non-voting member. Members of the board include the state governor and superintendent of public instruction acting as ex-officio members, eight volunteer Regents members with eight-year terms who are appointed by the governor, and two student regents, each with two-year terms, and each serving a one-year term as non-voting apprentices. ABOR provides policy guidance to the state universities of Arizona. ASU has four campuses in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, including the Tempe campus in Tempe; the West campus in Glendale; the Downtown Phoenix campus; and the Polytechnic campus in Mesa. ASU also offers courses and degrees through ASU Online and at the ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City in western Arizona, and offers regional learning programs in Thatcher, Yuma and Tucson. + +The Arizona Board of Regents appoints and elects the president of the university, who is considered the institution's chief executive officer and the chief budget officer. The president executes measures enacted by the Board of Regents, controls the university's property, and acts as the university's official representative to the Board of Regents. The chief executive officer is assisted through the administration of the institution by the provost, vice presidents, deans, faculty, directors, department chairs, and other officers. The president also selects and appoints administrative officers and general counsels. The 16th ASU president is Michael M. Crow, who has served since July 1, 2002. + +Campuses and locations +Academic programs are spread across four distinct campuses in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area; unlike most multi-campus institutions, however, ASU describes itself as "one university in many places", inferring there is "not a system with separate campuses, and not one main campus with branch campuses." The university considers each campus "distinctive" and academically focused on certain aspects of the overall university mission. The Tempe campus is the university's research and graduate school center. Undergraduate studies on the Tempe campus are research-based programs that prepare students for graduate school, professional school, or employment. The Polytechnic campus is designed with an emphasis on professional and technological programs for direct workforce preparation. The Polytechnic campus is the site of many of the university's simulators and laboratories dedicated for project-based learning. The West campus is focused on interdisciplinary degrees and the liberal arts, while maintaining professional programs with a direct impact on the community and society. The Downtown Phoenix campus focuses on direct urban and public programs such as nursing, public policy, criminal justice, mass communication, and journalism. ASU recently relocated some nursing and health related programs to its new ASU-Mayo Medical School campus. Inter-campus shuttles and light rail allow students and faculty to easily travel between the campuses. In addition to the physical campuses, ASU's "virtual campus" at the university's SkySong Innovation Center, provides online and extended education. + +The Arizona Board of Regents reports the ASU facilities inventory totals more than 23 million gross square feet. + +Tempe campus + +ASU's Tempe campus is in downtown Tempe, Arizona, about east of downtown Phoenix. The campus is considered urban, and is approximately in size. It is arranged around broad pedestrian malls and is completely encompassed by an arboretum. The Tempe campus is also the largest of ASU's campuses, with more than 70,000 students enrolled in at least one class on campus in fall 2017. The campus is considered to range from the streets Rural Road on the east to Mill Avenue on the west, and Apache Boulevard on the south to Rio Salado Parkway on the north. + +The Tempe campus is ASU's original campus, and Old Main, the oldest building on campus, still stands. Today's university and the Tempe campus were founded as the Territorial Normal School when first constructed, and was originally a teachers college. There are many notable landmarks on campus, including Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright; Palm Walk, which is lined by 111 palm trees; Charles Trumbull Hayden Library; the University Club building; Margaret Gisolo Dance Theatre; Arizona State University Art Museum; and University Bridge. Furthermore, the Tempe campus is home to Barrett, The Honors College. In addition, the campus has an extensive public art collection; It was named "the single most impressive venue for contemporary art in Arizona" by Art in America magazine. Against the northwest edge of campus is the Mill Avenue district (part of downtown Tempe), which has a college atmosphere that attracts many students to its restaurants and bars. Students also have Tempe Marketplace, a shopping, dining and entertainment center with an outdoor setting near the northeast border of the campus. The Tempe campus is also home to all of the university's athletic facilities. + +West Valley campus + +Established in 1984 by the Arizona legislature, the West Valley campus sits on in a suburban area of northwest Phoenix. The West Valley campus lies about northwest of Downtown Phoenix, and about northwest of the Tempe campus. The West Valley campus is designated as a Phoenix Point of Pride and is nearly completely powered by a solar array. The campus serves more than 4,000 students enrolled in at least a single course and offers more than 100 degree programs from the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, W. P. Carey School of Business, College of Public Service and Community Solutions, College of Health Solutions, and the College of Nursing and Health Innovation. + +Polytechnic campus + +Founded in 1996 as "ASU East", the ASU Polytechnic campus serves more than 4,800 students and is home to more than 130 bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in professional, technical science, humanities, social science and pre-health programs through the W. P. Carey School of Business/Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, and College of Integrative Sciences and Arts. The campus — a desert arboretum — includes outdoor learning labs and spaces as well as leading-edge simulators and indoor lab spaces to support teaching and research in various fields of study. The campus is in southeast Mesa, Arizona, approximately southeast of the Tempe campus, and southeast of downtown Phoenix. The Polytechnic campus sits on the former Williams Air Force Base and is adjacent to the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport and Chandler-Gilbert Community College (Williams campus). + +Downtown Phoenix campus + +The Downtown Phoenix campus was established in 2006 on the north side of Downtown Phoenix. The campus has an urban design, with several large modern academic buildings intermingled with commercial and retail office buildings. In addition to the new buildings, the campus included the adaptive reuse of several existing structures, including a 1930s era Post Office that is on the National Register of Historic Places. Serving 11,465 students, the campus houses the College of Health Solutions, College of Integrative Science and Arts, College of Nursing and Health Innovation, College of Public Service and Community Solutions, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, and Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. In 2013, the campus added the Sun Devil Fitness Center in conjunction with the original YMCA building. ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law relocated from Tempe to the Downtown Phoenix campus in 2016. + +ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City + +In response to demands for lower-cost public higher education in Arizona, ASU developed the small, undergraduate-only college in Lake Havasu City. ASU Colleges are teaching-focused and provide a selection of popular undergraduate majors. The Lake Havasu City campus offers undergraduate degrees at lower tuition rates than other Arizona research universities and a 15-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio. + +ASU Online +ASU Online offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate degree programs through an online platform. The degree programs delivered online hold the same accreditation as the university's traditional face-to-face programs. ASU Online is headquartered at ASU's SkySong campus in Scottsdale, Arizona. ASU Online was ranked in the Top 4 for Best Online Bachelor's Programs by U.S. News & World Report. + +Online students are taught by the same faculty and receive the same diploma as on-campus students. ASU online programs allow students to learn in highly interactive environments through student collaboration and through technological personalized learning environments. + +In April 2015, ASU Online announced a partnership with edX to form a one of a kind program called the Global Freshman Academy. The program is open to all potential students. The students do not need to submit a high school transcript or GPA to apply for the courses. + +As of spring 2017, more than 25,000 students were enrolled through ASU Online. In June 2014, ASU Online and Starbucks announced a partnership called the Starbucks College Achievement Plan. The Starbucks College Achievement Plan offers all benefits-eligible employees full-tuition coverage when they enroll in any one of ASU Online's undergraduate degree programs. + +Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, in collaboration with ASU +In 2016, Mayo Clinic and ASU formed a new platform for health care education and research: the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care. Beginning in 2017, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine students in Phoenix and Scottsdale are among the first to earn a certificate in the Science of Health Care Delivery, with the option to earn a master's degree in the Science of Health Care Delivery through ASU. + +Thunderbird Campus + +Thunderbird School of Global Management is one of the newest units of "Arizona State University Knowledge Enterprise." The flagship campus was in Glendale, Arizona, at Thunderbird Field No. 1, a former military airfield from which it derives its name, until 2018 when the Thunderbird School relocated to the Downtown area. + +Barrett and O'Connor Center +Following a nearly 15-year presence in Washington, D.C., through more minor means, ASU opened the Barrett and O'Connor Center in 2018 to solidify the university's contacts with the capital city. The center houses ASU's D.C.-based academic programs, including the Washington Bureau of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Rule of Law and Governance program, the Capital Scholars program, and the McCain Institute's Next Generation Leaders program, among many others. In addition to hosting classes and internships on-site, special lectures and seminars taught from the Barrett & O'Connor Washington Center are connected to classrooms in Arizona through video-conferencing technology. The Barrett and O'Connor center is located at 1800 I St NW, Washington, DC 20006, close to the White House. + +ASU California Center in Downtown Los Angeles +ASU's California Center is located in Los Angeles at the Herald Examiner Building. The center offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs, executive education, workshops and seminars. + +Academics + +Admissions + +As of August 2022, ASU had a systemwide enrolled student population (both in-person and online) of 140,759, a 4% increase over the systemwide total in 2021. Out of that total, approximately 79,000 students were enrolled in-person at one of the ASU campuses, an increase of 3.2% from 2021. Just over 61,000 students were enrolled in ASU Online courses and programs as of August 2022, an increase of roughly 7% in online student enrollment from the previous year. + +According to the U.S. News & World Report, for the 2022–2023 academic year ASU admitted 88% of all freshman applicants and classified the school's admissions in the “selective” category. The average high school GPA of incoming first-year students for the 2022–23 academic year was 3.54. + +Barrett, The Honors College is ranked among the top honors programs in the nation. Although there are no set minimum admissions criteria for Barrett College, the average GPA of Fall 2017 incoming freshmen was 3.78, with an average SAT score of 1380 and an average ACT score of 29. The Honors college has 7,236 students, with 719 National Merit Scholars. + +ASU enrolls 10,268 international students, 14.3% of the total student population. The international student body represents more than 150 nations. The Institute of International Education ranked ASU as the top public university in the U.S. for hosting international students in 2016–2017. + +In June 2022, Arizona State University was designated a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) by the United States Department of Education in recognition of the fact that for the first time in the school's history, during the Fall Semester of 2021 Hispanic students comprised over 25% of the university's total undergraduate enrollment. + +Academic programs + +ASU offers over 350 majors to undergraduate students, and more than 100 graduate programs leading to numerous masters and doctoral degrees in the liberal arts and sciences, design and arts, engineering, journalism, education, business, law, nursing, public policy, technology, and sustainability. These programs are divided into 16 colleges and schools that are spread across ASU's six campuses. ASU also offers the 4+1 accelerated program, which allows students in their senior year to attain their master's degree the following year. The 4+1 accelerated program is not associated with all majors; for example, in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College the 4+1 accelerated program only works with Education Exploratory majors. ASU uses a plus-minus grading system with highest cumulative GPA awarded of 4.0 (at time of graduation). Arizona State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. ASU is one of only four universities in the country to offer a certificate in veterans studies. + +Rankings + +The 2021 U.S. News & World Report ratings ranked ASU tied for 103rd among universities in the United States and tied for 146th globally. It was also tied for 46th among public universities in the United States, and was ranked 1st among "most innovative schools", tied for 16th in "best undergraduate teaching", 131st in "best value schools", and tied for 191st in "top performers on social mobility" among national universities in the U.S. The innovation ranking, new for 2016, was determined by a poll of top college officials nationwide asking them to name institutions "that are making the most innovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology or facilities." + +ASU is ranked 42nd–56th in the U.S. and 101st–150th in the world among the top 1000 universities in the 2020 Academic Ranking of World Universities, and 67th U.S./183rd world by the 2020–21 Center for World University Rankings. Money magazine ranked ASU 124th in the country out of 739 schools evaluated for its 2020 "Best Colleges for Your Money" edition. The Wall Street Journal ranks ASU 5th in the nation for producing the best-qualified graduates, determined by a nationwide poll of corporate recruiters. + +ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication has been named one of America's top 10 journalism schools by national publications and organizations for more than a decade. The rankings include: College Magazine (10th), Quality Education and Jobs (6th), and International Student (1st). + +For its efforts as a national leader in campus sustainability, ASU was named one of the top 6 "Cool Schools" by the Sierra Club in 2017, was named one of the Princeton Review's most sustainable schools in 2015 and earned an "A−" grade on the 2011 College Sustainability Green Report Card. + +Research and Institutes +ASU is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity". The university spent $673 million in fiscal year 2020, ranking it 43rd nationally. ASU is a NASA designated national space-grant institute and a member of the Universities Research Association. In 2023, it became a member of the Association of American Universities, an elite organization of 71 research universities in the U.S. and Canada. The university is currently in the top 10 for NASA-funded research expenditures. + +The university has raised more than $999 million in external funding, and more than 180 companies based on ASU innovations have been launched through the university's exclusive intellectual property management company, Skysong Innovations. The U.S. National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association rank ASU in the top 10 nationally and No. 11 globally for U.S. patents awarded to universities in 2020, along with MIT, Stanford and Harvard. ASU jumped to 10th place from 17th in 2017, according to the U.S. National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association. Since its inception, Skysong Innovations has fostered the launch of more than 180 companies based on ASU innovations, and attracted more than $999 million in venture funding, including $96 million in fiscal year 2016 alone. In 2013, the Sweden-based University Business Incubator (UBI) Index, named ASU as one of the top universities in the world for business incubation, ranking 17th. UBI reviewed 550 universities and associated business incubators from around the world using an assessment framework that takes more than 50 performance indicators into consideration. As an example, one of ASU's spin-offs (Heliae Development, LLC) raised more than $28 million in venture capital in 2013 alone. In June 2016, ASU received the Entrepreneurial University Award from the Deshpande Foundation, a philanthropic organization that supports social entrepreneurship and innovation. + +The university's push to create various institutes has led to greater funding and an increase in the number of researchers in multiple fields. ASU Knowledge Enterprise (KE) advances research, innovation, strategic partnerships, entrepreneurship, economic development and international development. KE is led by Sally C. Morton. KE supports several interdisciplinary research institutes and initiatives. Other notable and famed institutes at ASU are The Institute of Human Origins, L. William Seidman Research Institute (W. P. Carey School of Business), Learning Sciences Institute, Herberger Research Institute, and the Hispanic Research Center. The Biodesign Institute for instance, conducts research on issues such as biomedical and health care outcomes as part of a collaboration with Mayo Clinic to diagnose and treat diseases. The institute has attracted more than $760 million in external funding, filed 860 invention disclosures, nearly 200 patents, and generated 35 spinout companies based on its research. In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Biodesign developed a rapid, saliva-based testing option for the university community, and partnered with the Arizona Department of Health Services to make the saliva-based COVID test available to the public. In October 2021, Biodesign announced their millionth test. The institute also is heavily involved in sustainability research, primarily through reuse of CO2 via biological feedback and various biomasses (e.g. algae) to synthesize clean biofuels. Heliae is a Biodesign Institute spin-off and much of its business centers on algal-derived, high value products. Furthermore, the institute is heavily involved in security research including technology that can detect biological and chemical changes in the air and water. The university has received more than $30 million in funding from the Department of Defense for adapting this technology for use in detecting the presence of biological and chemical weapons. Research conducted at the Biodesign Institute by ASU professor Charles Arntzen made possible the production of Ebola antibodies in specially modified tobacco plants that researchers at Mapp Biopharmaceutical used to create the Ebola therapeutic ZMapp. The treatment is credited with saving the lives of two aid workers. For his work, Arntzen was named the No. 1 honoree among Fast Company's annual "100 Most Creative People in Business" 2015 awards. + +World-renowned scholars have been integral to the successes of the institutes associated with the university. ASU students and researchers have been selected as Marshall, Truman, Rhodes, and Fulbright Scholars with the university ranking 1st overall in the U.S. for Fulbright Scholar awards to faculty and 5th overall for recipients of Fulbright U.S. Student awards in the 2015–2016 academic year. ASU faculty includes Nobel Laureates, Royal Society members, National Academy members, and members of the National Institutes of Health, to name a few. ASU Professor Donald Johanson, who discovered the 3.18 million year old fossil hominid Lucy (Australopithecus) in Ethiopia, established the Institute of Human Origins (IHO) in 1981. The institute was first established in Berkeley, California, and later moved to ASU in 1997. As one of the leading research organization in the United States devoted to the science of human origins, IHO pursues a transdisciplinary strategy for field and analytical paleoanthropological research. The Herberger Institute Research Center supports the scholarly inquiry, applied research and creative activity of more than 400 faculty and nearly 5,000 students. The renowned ASU Art Museum, Herberger Institute Community Programs, urban design, and other outreach and initiatives in the arts community round out the research and creative activities of the Herberger Institute. Among well known professors within the Herberger Institute is Johnny Saldaña of the School of Theatre and Film. Saldaña received the 1996 Distinguished Book Award and the prestigious Judith Kase Cooper Honorary Research Award, both from the American Alliance for Theatre Education (AATE). The Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability is the center of ASU's initiatives focusing on practical solutions to environmental, economic, and social challenges. The institute has partnered with various cities, universities, and organizations from around the world to address issues affecting the global community. + +ASU is also involved with NASA in the field of space exploration. To meet the needs of NASA programs, ASU built the LEED Gold Certified, 298,000-square-foot Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building IV (ISTB 4) at a cost of $110 million in 2012. The building includes space for the School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) and includes labs and other facilities for the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. One of the main projects at ISTB 4 includes the OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES). Although ASU built the spectrometers aboard the Martian rovers Spirit and Opportunity, OTES will be the first major scientific instrument completely designed and built at ASU for a NASA space mission. Phil Christensen, the principal investigator for the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES), is a Regents' Professor at ASU. He also serves as the principal investigator for the Mars Odyssey THEMIS instruments, as well as co-investigator for the Mars Exploration Rovers. ASU scientists are responsible for the Mini-TES instruments aboard the Mars Exploration Rovers. The Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies, which is home to rare Martian meteorites and exotic fragments from space, and the Mars Space Flight Facility are on ASU's Tempe campus. In 2017, Lindy Elkins-Tanton of ASU was selected by NASA to lead a deep space mission to Psyche, a metal asteroid believed to be a former planetary core. The $450 million project is the first NASA mission led by the university. + +The Army Research Laboratory extended funding for the Arizona State University Flexible Display Center (FDC) in 2009 with a $50 million grant. The university has partnered with the Pentagon on such endeavors since 2004 with an initial $43.7 million grant. In 2012, researchers at the center created the world's largest flexible full-color organic light-emitting diode (OLED), which at the time was 7.4 inches. The following year, the FEDC staff broke their own world record, producing a 14.7-inch version of the display. The technology delivers high-performance while remaining cost-effective during the manufacturing process. Vibrant colors, high switching speeds for video and reduced power consumption are some of the features the center has integrated into the technology. In 2012, ASU eliminated the need for specialized equipment and processing, thereby reducing costs compared to competitive approaches. + +Luminosity Lab +The Luminosity Lab is a student-led research and development think tank located on the Tempe campus of ASU. It was founded in 2016 by Dr. Mark Naufel. Fifteen students from multiple disciplines were selected for the initial team. + +Notable projects +NASA + +A team of students from the Luminosity Lab were finalists in NASA's 2020 BIG Idea Challenge, a national competition to build a probe to explore the darkened regions of the Moon. + +A team of students from the Luminosity Lab were among 22 finalists in the Space Robotics Challenge, one of NASA's Centennial Challenges. + +X-Prize + +In summer 2020, Salesforce CEO Marc Beinhoff partnered with CNBC's Jim Cramer and the X-Prize Foundation, an international mask design competition with an overall prize purse of $1 million. A team of five students from the Luminosity Lab were the winners of the X-prize Next-gen Mask challenge, winning $500,000. The team received national and international press coverage and recognition as the result of being named the top mask of the competition. + +Libraries + +ASU's faculty and students are served by nine libraries across five campuses: Hayden Library, Noble Library, Music Library and Design and the Arts Library on the Tempe campus; Fletcher Library on the West campus; Downtown Phoenix campus library and Ross-Blakley Law Library at the Downtown Phoenix campus; Polytechnic campus library; and the Thunderbird Library at the Thunderbird campus. + +, ASU's libraries held 4.5 million volumes. The Arizona State University library system is ranked the 34th largest research library in the United States and Canada, according to criteria established by the Association of Research Libraries that measures various aspects of quality and size of the collection. The university continues to grow its special collections, such as the recent addition of a privately held collection of manuscripts by poet Rubén Darío. + +Hayden Library is on Cady Mall in the center of the Tempe campus and is currently under renovation. It opened in 1966 and is the largest library facility at ASU. An expansion in 1989 created the subterranean entrance underneath Hayden Lawn and is attached to the above-ground portion of the original library. There are two floors underneath Hayden Lawn with a landmark known as the "Beacon of Knowledge" rising from the center. The underground library lights the beacon at night. + +The 2013 Capital Improvement Plan, approved by the Arizona Board of Regents, incorporates a $35 million repurposing and renovation project for Hayden Library. The open air moat area that serves as an outdoor study space will be enclosed to increase indoor space for the library. Along with increasing space and renovating the facility, the front entrance of Hayden Library was rebuilt. + +Sustainability + +, ASU was the top institution of higher education in the United States for solar generating capacity. Today, the university generates over 24 megawatts (MW) of electricity from on-campus solar arrays. This is an increase over the June 2012 total of 15.3 MW. ASU has 88 solar photovoltaic (PV) installations containing 81,424 solar panels across four campuses and the ASU Research Park. An additional 29 MWdc solar installation was dedicated at Red Rock, Pinal County, Arizona, in January 2017, bringing the university's solar generating capacity to 50 MWdc. + +Additionally, six wind turbines installed on the roof of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability building on the Tempe campus have operated since October 2008. Under normal conditions, the six turbines produce enough electricity to power approximately 36 computers. + +In 2021, ASU researchers installed a passive radiative cooling film to local Tempe bus shelters to cool temperatures during the daytime by radiating heat to space with zero energy use. The film was produced by 3M and cooled shelter temperatures by 4 °C. It was one of the first applications of the cooling film in the country. + +ASU's School of Sustainability was the first school in the United States to introduce degrees in the field of sustainability. ASU's School of Sustainability is part of the Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability. The School was established in spring 2007 and began enrolling undergraduates in fall 2008. The school offers majors, minors, and a number of certificates in sustainability. ASU is also home to the Sustainability Consortium, which was founded by Jay Golden in 2009. + +The School of Sustainability has been essential in establishing the university as "a leader in the academics of sustainable business". The university is widely considered to be one of the most ambitious and principled organizations for embedding sustainable practices into its operating model. The university has embraced several challenging sustainability goals. Among the numerous benchmarks outlined in the university's prospectus, is the creation of a large recycling and composting operation that will eliminate 30% and divert 90% of waste from landfills. This endeavor will be aided by educating students about the benefits of avoiding overconsumption that contributes to excessive waste. Sustainability courses have been expanded to attain this goal and many of the university's individual colleges and schools have integrated such material into their lectures and courses. Second, ASU is on track to reduce its rate of water consumption by 50%. The university's most aggressive benchmark is to be the first, large research university to achieve carbon neutrality as it pertains to its Scope 1, 2 and non-transportation Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. + +ASU's College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (CISA) offers degrees and certifications focused on sustainable horticulture, natural resource ecology, indoor farming, desert food production and wildlife management, through its College of Applied Sciences and Arts at ASU's Polytechnic campus. CISA's Burrowing Owl Conservation Project at the Polytechnic campus was noted as one of the distinctive features of ASU in The Sierra Club magazine's ranking of ASU as the top "cool school" for sustainability in 2021. + +CISA faculty at the Polytechnic campus in disciplines such as applied biological sciences, and technical communication and user experience, are involved in research and community outreach to promote sustainable use of resources and preservation of species and habitat. Vertical farming, indoor farming and water conservation efforts are just a few of the sustainability initiatives being driven by CISA faculty. + +Traditions + +Maroon and gold +Gold is the oldest color associated with Arizona State University and dates back to 1896 when the school was named the Tempe Normal School. Maroon and white were later added to the color scheme in 1898. Gold signifies the "golden promise" of ASU. The promise includes every student receiving a valuable educational experience. Gold also signifies the sunshine Arizona is famous for; including the power of the sun and its influence on the climate and the economy. The first uniforms worn by athletes associated with the university were black and white when the "Normals" were the name of the athletic teams. The student section, known as The Inferno, wears gold on game days. Maroon signifies sacrifice and bravery while white represents the balance of negativity and positivity. As it is in the city of Tempe, Arizona, the school's colors adorn the neighboring buildings during big game days and festive events. + +Mascot and Spirit Squad + +Sparky the Sun Devil is the mascot of Arizona State University and was named by vote of the student body on November 8, 1946. Sparky often travels with the team across the country and has been at every football bowl game in which the university has participated. The university's mascot is not to be confused with the athletics department's logo, the Pitchfork or hand gesture used by those associated with the university. The new logo is used on various sport facilities, uniforms and athletics documents. Arizona State Teacher's College had a different mascot and the sports teams were known as the Owls and later, the Bulldogs. When the school was first established, the Tempe Normal School's teams were simply known as the Normals. Sparky is visible on the sidelines of every home game played in Sun Devil Stadium or other ASU athletic facilities. His routine at football games includes pushups after every touchdown scored by the Sun Devils. He is aided by Sparky's Crew, male yell leaders that must meet physical requirements to participate as members. The female members are known as the Spirit Squad and are categorized into a dance line and spirit line. They are the official squad that represents ASU. The spirit squad competes every year at the ESPN Universal Dance Association (UDA) College Nationals in the Jazz and Hip-Hop categories. They were chosen by the UDA to represent the US at the World Dance Championship 2013 in the Jazz category. + +"A" Mountain + +A letter has existed on the slope of the mountain since 1918. A "T" followed by an "N" were the first letters to grace the landmark. Tempe Butte, home to "A" Mountain, has had the "A" installed on the slope of its south face since 1938 and is visible from campus just to the south. The original "A" was destroyed by vandals in 1952 with pipe bombs and a new "A", constructed of reinforced concrete, was built in 1955. The vandals were never identified but many speculate the conspirators were students from the rival in-state university (University of Arizona). Many ancient Hohokam petroglyphs were destroyed by the bomb; nevertheless, many of these archeological sites around the mountain remain. There are many traditions surrounding "A" Mountain, including a revived "guarding of the 'A'" in which students camp on the mountainside before games with rival schools. "Whitewashing" of the "A" is a tradition in which incoming freshmen paint the letter white during orientation week and is repainted gold before the first football game of the season. Whitewashing dates back to the 1930s and it grows in popularity every year, with thousands of students going up to paint the "A" every year. + +Lantern Walk and Homecoming + +The Lantern Walk is one of the oldest traditions at ASU and dates back to 1917. It is considered one of ASU's "most cherished" traditions and is an occasion used to mark the work of those associated with ASU throughout history. Anyone associated with ASU is free to participate in the event, including students, alumni, faculty, employees, and friends. This differs slightly from the original tradition in which the seniors would carry lanterns up "A" Mountain followed by the freshman. The senior class president would describe ASU's traditions and the freshman would repeat an oath of allegiance to the university. It was described as a tradition of "good will between the classes" and a way of ensuring new students would continue the university's traditions with honor. In modern times, the participants walk through campus and follow a path up to "A" Mountain to "light up" Tempe. Keynote speakers, performances, and other events are used to mark the occasion. The night is culminated with a fireworks display. The Lantern Walk was held after the Spring Semester (June) but is now held the week before Homecoming, a tradition that dates to 1924 at ASU. It is held in the fall and in conjunction with a football game. + +Victory Bell + +In 2012, Arizona State University reintroduced the tradition of ringing a bell after each win for the football team. The ROTC cadets associated with the university transport the bell to various events and ring it after Sun Devil victories. The first Victory Bell, in various forms, was used in the 1930s but the tradition faded in the 1970s when the bell was removed from Memorial Union for renovations. The bell cracked and was no longer capable of ringing. That bell is on the southeast corner of Sun Devil Stadium, near the entrance to the student section. That bell, given to the university in the late 1960s, is painted gold and is a campus landmark. + +Sun Devil Marching Band, Devil Walk and songs of the university + +The Arizona State University Sun Devil Marching Band, created in 1915 and known as the "Pride of the Southwest", was the first of only two marching bands in the Pac-12 to receive the prestigious Sudler Trophy. The John Philip Sousa Foundation awarded the band the trophy in 1991. The Sun Devil Marching Band remains one of only 28 bands in the nation to have earned the designation. The band performs at every football game played in Sun Devil Stadium. In addition, the Sun Devil Marching Band has made appearances in the Fiesta Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the Holiday Bowl, and the Super Bowl XLII, in addition to many others. Smaller ensembles of band members perform at other sport venues including basketball games at Wells Fargo Arena and baseball games. The Devil Walk is held in Wells Fargo Arena by the football team and involves a more formal introduction of the players to the community; a new approach to the tradition added in 2012 with the arrival of head coach Todd Graham. It begins 2 hours and 15 minutes prior to the game and allows the players to establish rapport with the fans. The walk ends as the team passes the band and fans lined along the path to Sun Devil Stadium. The walk was discontinued when Graham was fired. However, in 2022, interim coach Shaun Aguano announced that the Sun Devil Walk is returning. The most recognizable songs played by the band are "Alma Mater" and ASU's fight songs titled "Maroon and Gold" and the "Al Davis Fight Song". "Alma Mater" was composed by former Music Professor and Director of Sun Devil Marching Band (then known as Bulldog Marching Band), Miles A. Dresskell, in 1937. "Maroon and Gold" was authored by former Director of Sun Devil Marching Band, Felix E. McKernan, in 1948. The "Al Davis Fight Song" (also known as "Go, Go Sun Devils" and "Arizona State University Fight Song") was composed by ASU alumnus Albert Oliver Davis in the 1940s without any lyrics. Recently lyrics were added to the song. + +Curtain of Distraction +The Curtain of Distraction is a tradition that appears at every men's and women's basketball game. The tradition started in 2013 in order to get fans to the games. In the second half of basketball games, a portable "curtain" opens up in front of the opponents shooting a free throw and students pop out of the curtain to try and distract the opponent. Some of the skits include an Elvis impersonator, people rubbing mayonnaise on their chest, and people wearing unicorn heads. In 2016, former Olympian Michael Phelps came out of the curtain wearing a Speedo during a game against Oregon State. ESPN estimated that distraction may give ASU a one-to-three point advantage. + +Student life + +Extracurricular programs + +Arizona State University has an active extracurricular involvement program. Located on the second floor of the Student Pavilion at the Tempe campus, Educational Outreach and Student Services (EOSS) provides opportunities for student involvement through clubs, sororities, fraternities, community service, leadership, student government, and co-curricular programming. + +The oldest student organization on campus is Devils' Advocates, the volunteer campus tour guide organization, which was founded in 1966 as a way to more competitively recruit National Merit Scholars. There are over 1,100 ASU alumni who can call themselves Advos. + +Changemaker Central is a student-run centralized resource hub for student involvement in social entrepreneurship, civic engagement, service-learning, and community service that catalyzes student-driven social change. Changemaker Central locations have opened on all campuses in fall 2011, providing flexible, creative workspaces for everyone in the ASU community. The project is entirely student run and advances ASU's institutional commitments to social embeddedness and entrepreneurship. The space allows students to meet, work and join new networks and collaborative enterprises while taking advantage of ASU's many resources and opportunities for engagement. Changemaker Central has signature programs, including Changemaker Challenge, that support students in their journey to become changemakers by creating communities of support around new solutions/ideas and increasing access to early stage seed funding. The Changemaker Challenge seeks undergraduate and graduate students from across the university who are dedicated to making a difference in our local and global communities through innovation. Students can win up to $10,000 to make their innovative project, prototype, venture or community partnership ideas happen. + +In addition to Changemaker Central, the Greek community (Greek Life) at Arizona State University has been important in binding students to the university, and providing social outlets. ASU is also home to one of the nation's first and fastest growing gay fraternities, Sigma Phi Beta, founded in 2003; considered a sign of the growing university's commitment to supporting diversity and inclusion. + +The second Eta chapter of Phrateres, a non-exclusive, non-profit social-service club, was installed here in 1958 and became inactive in the 1990s. + +There are multiple councils for Greek Life, including the Interfraternity Council (IFC), Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations (NALFO), National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), Panhellenic Association (PHA), and the Professional Fraternity Council (PFC). + +Student media +The State Press is the university's independent, student-operated news publication. The State Press covers news and events on all four ASU campuses. Student editors and managers are solely responsible for the content of the State Press website. These publications are overseen by an independent board and guided by a professional adviser employed by the university. + +The Downtown Devil is a student-run news publication website for the Downtown Phoenix Campus, produced by students at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. + +ASU has one student-run radio station, Blaze Radio. Blaze Radio is a completely student-run broadcast station owned and funded by the Cronkite School of Journalism. The station broadcasts using a 24-hour online stream on their official website. Blaze Radio plays music 24 hours a day and features daily student-hosted news, music, and sports specialty programs. + +Student government +Associated Students of Arizona State University (ASASU) is the student government at Arizona State University. It is composed of the Undergraduate Student Government and the Graduate & Professional Student Association (GPSA). Each ASU campus has a specific USG; USG Tempe (Tempe), USGD (Downtown), USG Polytechnic (Polytechnic) and USG West (West). Members and officers of ASASU are elected annually by the student body. + +The Residence Hall Association (RHA) of Arizona State University is the student government for every ASU student living on-campus. Each ASU campus has an RHA that operates independently. RHA's purpose is to improve the quality of residence hall life and provide a cohesive voice for the residents by addressing the concerns of the on-campus populations to university administrators and other campus organizations; providing cultural, diversity, educational, and social programming; establishing and working with individual community councils. + +Athletics + +Arizona State University's Division I athletic teams are called the Sun Devils, which is also the nickname used to refer to students and alumni of the university. They compete in the Pac-12 Conference in 20 varsity sports. Historically, the university has highly performed in men's, women's, and mixed archery; men's, women's, and mixed badminton; women's golf; women's swimming and diving; baseball; and football. Arizona State University's NCAA Division I-A program competes in 9 varsity sports for men and 11 for women. ASU's athletic director is Ray Anderson, former executive vice president of football operations for the National Football League. Anderson replaced Steve Patterson, who was appointed to the position in 2012, replacing Lisa Love, the former Senior Associate Athletic Director at the University of Southern California. Love was responsible for the hiring of coaches Herb Sendek, the men's basketball coach, and Dennis Erickson, the men's football coach. Erickson was fired in 2011 and replaced by Todd Graham. In December 2017, ASU announced that Herm Edwards would replace Graham as the head football coach. The rival to Arizona State University is University of Arizona. + +ASU has won 24 national collegiate team championships in the following sports: baseball (5), men's golf (2), women's golf (8), men's gymnastics (1), softball (2), men's indoor track (1), women's indoor track (2), men's outdoor track (1), women's outdoor track (1), and wrestling (1). + +In September 2009, criticism over the seven-figure salaries earned by various coaches at Arizona's public universities (including ASU) prompted the Arizona Board of Regents to re-evaluate the salary and benefit policy for athletic staff. With the 2011 expansion of the Pac-12 Conference, a new $3 billion contract for revenue sharing among all the schools in the conference was established. With the infusion of funds, the salary issue and various athletic department budgeting issues at ASU were addressed. The Pac-12's new media contract with ESPN allowed ASU to hire a new coach in 2012. A new salary and bonus package (maximum bonus of $2.05 million) was instituted and is one of the most lucrative in the conference. ASU also plans to expand its athletic facilities with a public-private investment strategy to create an amateur sports district that can accommodate the Pan American Games and operate as an Olympic Training Center. The athletic district will include a $300 million renovation of Sun Devil Stadium that will include new football facilities. The press box and football offices in Sun Devil Stadium were remodeled in 2012. + +Arizona State Sun Devils football was founded in 1896 under coach Fred Irish. The team has played in the 2012 Fight Hunger Bowl, the 2011 Las Vegas bowl, the 2016 Cactus Bowl, and the 2007 Holiday Bowl. The Sun Devils played in the 1997 Rose Bowl and won the Rose Bowl in 1987. The team has appeared in the Fiesta Bowl in 1983, 1977, 1975, 1973, 1972, and 1971 winning 5 of 6. In 1970, and 1975, they were champions of the NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship. The Sun Devils were Pac-12 Champions in 1986, 1996, and 2007. Altogether, the football team has 17 Conference Championships and has participated in a total of 29 bowl games as of the 2015–2016 season with a 14–14–1 record in those games. + +ASU Sun Devils Hockey competed with NCAA Division 1 schools for the first time in 2012, largely due to the success of the program. In 2016, they began as a full-time Division I team. + +Eight members of ASU's Women's Swimming and Diving Team were selected to the Pac-10 All-Academic Team on April 5, 2010. In addition, five member of ASU's Men's Swimming and Diving Team were selected to the Pac-10 All-Academic Team on April 6, 2010. + +In April 2015, Bobby Hurley was hired as the men's basketball coach, replacing Herb Sendek. Previously, Hurley was the head coach at the University at Buffalo for the UB Bulls as well as an assistant coach at Rhode Island and Wagner University. + +In 2015, Bob Bowman was hired as the head swim coach. Previously, Bowman trained Michael Phelps through his Olympic career. + +As of Fall 2015, ASU students, including those enrolled in online courses, may avail of a free ticket to all ASU athletic events upon presentation of a valid student ID and reserving one online through their ASU and Ticketmaster account. Tickets may be limited or not available in the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 school years due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. + +Alumni + +Arizona State University has produced more than 600,000 alumni worldwide. The Arizona State University Alumni Association is on the Tempe campus in Old Main. + +Political figures + +The university has produced many notable figures over its 125-year history, including influential U.S. senator Carl Hayden and Barbara Barrett, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Finland under President George W. Bush and served under President Donald Trump as the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, attained her bachelor's, master's, and law degrees from ASU. + +Other notable alumni include nine current or former U.S. Representatives, including Barry Goldwater Jr., Ed Pastor, and Matt Salmon. The economy minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, earned a bachelor's degree in engineering at ASU. Arizona governors Doug Ducey, Jane Dee Hull, and Evan Mecham also attended Arizona State. U.S. District Court Judge Michael T. Liburdi attended Arizona State for both his undergraduate and Juris Doctor degrees. Peterson Zah, who was the first Navajo president and the last chairman of the Navajo Nation, is an ASU graduate. + +Business leaders +Ira A. Fulton, philanthropist and founder of Fulton Homes, Kate Spade, namesake and cofounder of Kate Spade New York, and Larry Carter, CFO of Cisco Systems attended ASU. Alumnus Kevin Warren is the COO of the Minnesota Vikings, and the highest ranking African-American executive working on the business side of an NFL team. + +Athletes + +Many world renowned athletes have attended the school, including Silver Star recipient Pat Tillman, who left his National Football League career to enlist in the United States Army in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. World Golf Hall of Fame member Phil Mickelson, Baseball Hall of Fame member Reggie Jackson, Major League Baseball home run king Barry Bonds, National Basketball Association All-Star James Harden, and 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Terrell Suggs are all alumni of ASU. ASU alumni enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame include: Curley Culp, Mike Haynes, John Henry Johnson, Randall McDaniel, and Charley Taylor. + +Other notable athletes that attended ASU are: Major League Baseball All-Stars Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia, Sal Bando, and Paul Lo Duca; National Basketball Association All-Stars Lionel Hollins and Fat Lever, and NBA All-Star coach Byron Scott; National Football League Pro Bowl selections Jake Plummer and Danny White; 2021 U.S. Open champion golfer Jon Rahm and three-time Olympic gold medalist swimmers Melissa Belote and Jan Henne, and two-time Olympian and double-Olympic gold medalist Megan Jendrick. + +Actors, artists, comedians, commentators, and writers +Celebrities who have attended ASU include: Jimmy Kimmel Live! host Jimmy Kimmel; Steve Allen, who was the original host of The Tonight Show; Academy Award-nominated actor Nick Nolte; 11-Time Grammy Award winning singer Linda Ronstadt; singer-songwriter Carolyne Mas; Saturday Night Live and Tommy Boy actor David Spade; Wonder Woman actress Lynda Carter; and Road to Perdition actor Tyler Hoechlin. Influential writers and novelists include: Allison DuBois, whose novels and work inspired the TV miniseries Medium; novelist Amanda Brown; author and spiritual teacher Howard Falco; and best-selling author and Doctor of Animal Science Temple Grandin. + +Journalists and commentators include former Monday Night Football announcer, and Sunday Night Football announcer Al Michaels, and writer and cartoonist Jerry Dumas, who is best known for his Sam and Silo comic strip. Radio host Michael Reagan, the son of President Ronald Reagan and actress Jane Wyman, also briefly attended. Conservative author, commentator, and popular historian Larry Schweikart, known nationally for writing the New York Times bestseller A Patriot's History of the United States, attended ASU for his bachelor's and master's degrees. + +Faculty + +ASU faculty have included former CNN host Aaron Brown, Academic Claude Olney, meta-analysis developer Gene V. Glass, feminist and author Gloria Feldt, physicist Paul Davies, and Pulitzer Prize winner and The Ants coauthor Bert Hölldobler. David Kilcullen, a counterinsurgency theorist, is a professor of practice. Donald Johanson, who discovered the 3.18 million year old fossil hominid Lucy (Australopithecus) in Ethiopia, is also a professor, as well as George Poste, Chief Scientist for the Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative. Former US senator Jeff Flake was appointed as a distinguished dean fellow on December 2, 2020. Nobel laureate faculty include Leland Hartwell, and Edward C. Prescott. On June 12, 2012, Elinor Ostrom, ASU's third Nobel laureate, died at the age of 78. + +ASU faculty's achievements include: + 5 Nobel laureates + 3 members of the Royal Society + 24 National Academy members + 7 Pulitzer Prize winners + 5 Sloan Research Fellows + 37 Guggenheim Fellows + 250 Fulbright American Scholars + 5 MacArthur Fellow + 23 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences + 9 members of the National Academy of Engineering + 143 National Endowment for the Humanities fellows + 65 American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows + 2 members of the Institute of Medicine + 8 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers + 8 American Council of Learned Societies Fellows + 34 IEEE Fellows + 19 Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation Prize Winners + 1 Recipient of the Rockefeller Fellowship + +Presidential visits +Arizona State University has been visited by nine United States presidents. President Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to visit campus, speaking on the steps of Old Main on March 20, 1911, while in Arizona to dedicate the Roosevelt Dam. President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke at ASU's Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium on January 29, 1972, at a memorial service for ASU alumnus Senator Carl T. Hayden. Future president Gerald R. Ford debated Senator Albert Gore, Sr. at Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium on April 28, 1968, and Ford returned to the same building as a former president to give a lecture on February 24, 1984. President Jimmy Carter visited Arizona PBS at ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication on July 31, 2015, to promote a memoir. Future president Ronald Reagan gave a political speech at the school's Memorial Union in 1957, and returned to campus as a former president on March 20, 1989, delivering his first ever post-presidential speech at ASU's Wells Fargo Arena. President George H. W. Bush gave a lecture at Wells Fargo Arena on May 5, 1998. + +President Bill Clinton became the first sitting president to visit ASU on October 31, 1996, speaking on the Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium lawn. He returned to ASU in 2006, and in 2014, President Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton came to campus to host the Clinton Global Initiative University. President George W. Bush became the second sitting president to visit the school's campus when he debated Senator John Kerry at the university's Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium on October 13, 2004. President Barack Obama visited ASU as sitting president on May 13, 2009. President Obama delivered the commencement speech for the Spring 2009 Commencement Ceremony. President Obama had previously visited the school as a United States senator. President Richard Nixon did not visit ASU as president, but visited Phoenix as president on October 31, 1970, at an event that included a performance by the Arizona State University Band, which President Nixon acknowledged. As part of President Nixon's remarks, he stated that, "when I am in Arizona, Arizona State is number one." + +See also + + KAET (channel 8), a PBS member station owned by Arizona State University. + +Notes + +References + +External links + + + + + + + + + +1885 establishments in Arizona Territory +Arizona State Sun Devils +Universities and colleges established in 1885 +Natural Science Collections Alliance members +Public universities and colleges in Arizona +Arizona State University +BSL3 laboratories in the United States +Universities and colleges accredited by the Higher Learning Commission + + +Events + +Pre-1600 +43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum. +69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho in the First Battle of Bedriacum to take power over Rome. + 966 – Following his marriage to the Christian Doubravka of Bohemia, the pagan ruler of the Polans, Mieszko I, converts to Christianity, an event considered to be the founding of the Polish state. + 972 – Otto II, Co-Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, marries Byzantine princess Theophanu. She is crowned empress by Pope John XIII in Rome the same day. +1395 – Tokhtamysh–Timur war: At the Battle of the Terek River, Timur defeats the army of the Golden Horde, beginning the khanate's permanent military decline. +1471 – In England, the Yorkists under Edward IV defeat the Lancastrians under the Earl of Warwick at the Battle of Barnet; the Earl is killed and Edward resumes the throne. +1561 – A celestial phenomenon is reported over Nuremberg, described as an aerial battle. + +1601–1900 +1639 – Thirty Years' War: Forces of the Holy Roman Empire and Electorate of Saxony are defeated by the Swedes at the Battle of Chemnitz, ending the military effectiveness of the Saxon army for the rest of the war and allowing the Swedes to advance into Bohemia. +1775 – The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, the first abolition society in North America, is organized in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush. +1793 – The French troops led by Léger-Félicité Sonthonax defeat the slaves settlers in the Siege of Port-au-Prince. +1816 – Bussa, a slave in British-ruled Barbados, leads a slave rebellion, for which he is remembered as the country's first national hero. +1849 – Hungary declares itself independent of Austria with Lajos Kossuth as its leader. +1865 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is shot in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth; Lincoln dies the following day. + 1865 – William H. Seward, the U.S. Secretary of State, and his family are attacked at home by Lewis Powell. +1881 – The Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight occurs in El Paso, Texas. +1890 – The Pan-American Union is founded by the First International Conference of American States in Washington, D.C. +1894 – The first ever commercial motion picture house opens in New York City, United States. It uses ten Kinetoscopes, devices for peep-show viewing of films. +1895 – The 1895 Ljubljana earthquake, both the most and last destructive earthquake in the area, occurs. +1900 – The world's fair Exposition Universelle opens in Paris. + +1901–present +1906 – The first meeting of the Azusa Street Revival, which will launch Pentecostalism as a worldwide movement, is held in Los Angeles. +1908 – Hauser Dam, a steel dam on the Missouri River in Montana, fails, sending a surge of water high downstream. +1909 – Muslims in the Ottoman Empire begin a massacre of Armenians in Adana. +1912 – The British passenger liner hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic and begins to sink. +1928 – The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, reaches Greenly Island, Canada, completing the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west. +1929 – The inaugural Monaco Grand Prix takes place in the Principality of Monaco. William Grover-Williams wins driving a Bugatti Type 35. +1931 – The Spanish Cortes deposes King Alfonso XIII and proclaims the Second Spanish Republic. +1935 – The Black Sunday dust storm, considered one of the worst storms of the Dust Bowl, sweeps across the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and neighboring areas. +1940 – World War II: Royal Marines land in Namsos, Norway, preceding a larger force which will arrive two days later. +1941 – World War II: German and Italian forces attack Tobruk, Libya. +1944 – Bombay explosion: A massive explosion in Bombay harbor kills 300 and causes economic damage valued at 20 million pounds. +1945 – Razing of Friesoythe: The 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division deliberately destroys the German town of Friesoythe on the orders of Major General Christopher Vokes. +1958 – The Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 falls from orbit after a mission duration of 162 days. This was the first spacecraft to carry a living animal, a female dog named Laika, who likely lived only a few hours. +1967 – Gnassingbé Eyadéma overthrows Nicolas Grunitzky and installs himself as the new President of Togo, a title he will hold for the next 38 years. +1978 – Tbilisi demonstrations: Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language. +1979 – The Progressive Alliance of Liberia stages a protest, without a permit, against an increase in rice prices proposed by the government, with clashes between protestors and the police resulting in over 70 deaths and over 500 injuries. +1981 – STS-1: The first operational Space Shuttle, Columbia completes its first test flight. +1986 – The heaviest hailstones ever recorded, each weighing , fall on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, killing 92. +1988 – The strikes a mine in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will. + 1988 – In a United Nations ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, the Soviet Union signs an agreement pledging to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. +1991 – The Republic of Georgia introduces the post of President following its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. +1994 – In a friendly fire incident during Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq, two U.S. Air Force aircraft mistakenly shoot-down two U.S. Army helicopters, killing 26 people. +1997 – Pai Hsiao-yen, daughter of Taiwanese artiste Pai Bing-bing is kidnapped on her way to school, preceding her murder. +1999 – NATO mistakenly bombs a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees. Yugoslav officials say 75 people were killed. + 1999 – A severe hailstorm strikes Sydney, Australia causing A$2.3 billion in insured damages, the most costly natural disaster in Australian history. +2002 – Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez returns to office two days after being ousted and arrested by the country's military. +2003 – The Human Genome Project is completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%. + 2003 – U.S. troops in Baghdad capture Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner in 1985. +2005 – The Oregon Supreme Court nullifies marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples a year earlier by Multnomah County. +2006 – Twin blasts triggered by crude bombs during Asr prayer in the Jama Masjid mosque in Delhi injure 13 people. +2014 – Two bombs detonate at a bus station in Nyanya, Nigeria, killing at least 88 people and injuring hundreds. Boko Haram claims responsibility. + 2014 – Boko Haram abducts 276 girls from a school in Chibok, Nigeria. +2016 – The foreshock of a major earthquake occurs in Kumamoto, Japan. +2022 – Russian invasion of Ukraine: The Russian warship Moskva sinks. +2023 – The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is launched by the European Space Agency. + +Births + +Pre-1600 +1126 – Averroes, Andalusian Arab physician and philosopher (d. 1198) +1204 – Henry I, king of Castile (d. 1217) +1331 – Jeanne-Marie de Maille, French Roman Catholic saint (d. 1414) +1527 – Abraham Ortelius, Flemish cartographer and geographer (d. 1598) +1572 – Adam Tanner, Austrian mathematician, philosopher, and academic (d. 1632) +1578 – Philip III of Spain (d. 1621) + +1601–1900 +1629 – Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (d. 1695) +1669 – Magnus Julius De la Gardie, Swedish general and politician (d. 1741) +1678 – Abraham Darby I, English iron master (d. 1717) +1709 – Charles Collé, French playwright and songwriter (d. 1783) +1714 – Adam Gib, Scottish minister and author (d. 1788) +1738 – William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1809) +1769 – Barthélemy Catherine Joubert, French general (d. 1799) +1773 – Jean-Baptiste de Villèle, French politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1854) +1788 – David G. Burnet, American politician, 2nd Vice-President of Texas (d. 1870) +1800 – John Appold, English engineer (d. 1865) +1812 – George Grey, Portuguese-New Zealand soldier, explorer, and politician, 11th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1898) +1814 – Dimitri Kipiani, Georgian publicist and author (d. 1887) +1819 – Harriett Ellen Grannis Arey, American educator, author, editor, and publisher (d. 1901) +1827 – Augustus Pitt Rivers, English general, ethnologist, and archaeologist (d. 1900) +1852 – Alexander Greenlaw Hamilton, Australian biologist (d. 1941) +1854 – Martin Lipp, Estonian pastor and poet (d. 1923) +1857 – Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom (d. 1944) +1865 – Alfred Hoare Powell, English architect, and designer and painter of pottery (d. 1960) +1866 – Anne Sullivan, American educator (d. 1936) +1868 – Peter Behrens, German architect, designed the AEG turbine factory (d. 1940) +1870 – Victor Borisov-Musatov, Russian painter and educator (d. 1905) + 1870 – Syd Gregory, Australian cricketer and coach (d. 1929) +1872 – Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Indian-English scholar and translator (d. 1953) +1876 – Cecil Chubb, English barrister and one time owner of Stonehenge (d. 1934) +1881 – Husain Salaahuddin, Maldivian poet and scholar (d. 1948) +1882 – Moritz Schlick, German-Austrian physicist and philosopher (d. 1936) +1886 – Ernst Robert Curtius, German philologist and scholar (d. 1956) + 1886 – Árpád Tóth, Hungarian poet and translator (d. 1928) +1889 – Arnold J. Toynbee, English historian and academic (d. 1975) +1891 – B. R. Ambedkar, Indian economist, jurist, and politician, 1st Indian Minister of Law and Justice (d. 1956) + 1891 – Otto Lasanen, Finnish wrestler (d. 1958) +1892 – Juan Belmonte, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1962) + 1892 – V. Gordon Childe, Australian archaeologist and philologist (d. 1957) + 1892 – Claire Windsor, American actress (d. 1972) +1900 – Shivrampant Damle, Indian educationist (d. 1977) + +1901–present +1902 – Sylvio Mantha, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and referee (d. 1974) +1903 – Henry Corbin, French philosopher and academic (d. 1978) + 1903 – Ruth Svedberg, Swedish discus thrower and triathlete (d. 2002) +1904 – John Gielgud, English actor, director, and producer (d. 2000) +1905 – Elizabeth Huckaby, American author and educator (d. 1999) + 1905 – Georg Lammers, German sprinter (d. 1987) + 1905 – Jean Pierre-Bloch, French author and activist (d. 1999) +1906 – Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian king (d. 1975) +1907 – François Duvalier, Haitian physician and politician, 40th President of Haiti (d. 1971) +1912 – Robert Doisneau, French photographer and journalist (d. 1994) + 1912 – Georg Siimenson, Estonian footballer (d. 1978) +1913 – Jean Fournet, French conductor (d. 2008) +1916 – Don Willesee, Australian telegraphist and politician, 29th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 2003) +1917 – Valerie Hobson, English actress (d. 1998) + 1917 – Marvin Miller, American baseball executive (d. 2012) +1918 – Mary Healy, American actress and singer (d. 2015) +1919 – Shamshad Begum, Pakistani-Indian singer (d. 2013) + 1919 – K. Saraswathi Amma, Indian author and playwright (d. 1975) +1920 – Ivor Forbes Guest, English lawyer, historian, and author (d. 2018) +1921 – Thomas Schelling, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016) +1922 – Audrey Long, American actress (d. 2014) +1923 – Roberto De Vicenzo, Argentinian golfer (d. 2017) +1924 – Shorty Rogers, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1994) + 1924 – Joseph Ruskin, American actor and producer (d. 2013) + 1924 – Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock, English philosopher, and academic (d. 2019) +1925 – Abel Muzorewa, Zimbabwean minister and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia (d. 2010) + 1925 – Rod Steiger, American soldier and actor (d. 2002) +1926 – Barbara Anderson, New Zealand author (d. 2013) + 1926 – Frank Daniel, Czech director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1996) + 1926 – Gloria Jean, American actress and singer (d. 2018) + 1926 – Liz Renay, American actress and author (d. 2007) +1927 – Alan MacDiarmid, New Zealand chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007) + 1927 – Dany Robin, French actress and singer (d. 1995) +1929 – Gerry Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012) + 1929 – Inez Andrews, African-American singer-songwriter (d. 2012) +1930 – Martin Adolf Bormann, German priest and theologian (d. 2013) + 1930 – Arnold Burns, American lawyer and politician, 21st United States Deputy Attorney General (d. 2013) + 1930 – René Desmaison, French mountaineer (d. 2007) + 1930 – Bradford Dillman, American actor and author (d. 2018) +1931 – Geoffrey Dalton, English admiral (d. 2020) + 1931 – Paul Masnick, Canadian ice hockey player +1932 – Bill Bennett, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Premier of British Columbia (d. 2015) + 1932 – Atef Ebeid, Egyptian academic and politician, 47th Prime Minister of Egypt (d. 2014) + 1932 – Loretta Lynn, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2022) + 1932 – Cameron Parker, Scottish businessman and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire +1933 – Paddy Hopkirk, Northern Irish racing driver (d. 2022) + 1933 – Boris Strugatsky, Russian author (d. 2012) + 1933 – Yuri Oganessian, Armenian-Russian nuclear physicist +1934 – Fredric Jameson, American philosopher and theorist +1935 – Susan Cunliffe-Lister, Baroness Masham of Ilton, English table tennis player, swimmer, and politician (d. 2023) + 1935 – John Oliver, English bishop + 1935 – Erich von Däniken, Swiss pseudohistorian and author +1936 – Arlene Martel, American actress and singer (d. 2014) + 1936 – Bobby Nichols, American golfer + 1936 – Frank Serpico, American-Italian soldier, police officer and lecturer +1937 – Efi Arazi, Israeli businessman, founded the Scailex Corporation (d. 2013) + 1937 – Sepp Mayerl, Austrian mountaineer (d. 2012) +1938 – Mahmud Esad Coşan, Turkish author and academic (d. 2001) + 1938 – Ralph Willis, Australian politician +1940 – Julie Christie, Indian-English actress and activist + 1940 – David Hope, Baron Hope of Thornes, English archbishop and academic + 1940 – Richard Thompson, English physician and academic +1941 – Pete Rose, American baseball player and manager +1942 – Valeriy Brumel, Soviet high jumper (d. 2003) + 1942 – Valentin Lebedev, Russian engineer and astronaut + 1942 – Björn Rosengren, Swedish politician, Swedish Minister of Enterprise and Innovation +1944 – John Sergeant, English journalist +1945 – Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, Samoan economist and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Samoa + 1945 – Ritchie Blackmore, English guitarist and songwriter + 1945 – Roger Frappier, Canadian producer, director and screenwriter +1946 – Mireille Guiliano, French-American author + 1946 – Michael Sarris, Cypriot economist and politician, Cypriot Minister of Finance + 1946 – Knut Kristiansen, Norwegian pianist and orchestra leader +1947 – Dominique Baudis, French journalist and politician (d. 2014) + 1947 – Bob Massie, Australian cricketer +1948 – Berry Berenson, American model, actress, and photographer (d. 2001) + 1948 – Anastasios Papaligouras, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Justice +1949 – Dave Gibbons, English author and illustrator + 1949 – DeAnne Julius, American-British economist and academic + 1949 – Chris Langham, English actor and screenwriter + 1949 – Chas Mortimer, English motorcycle racer + 1949 – John Shea, American actor and director +1950 – Francis Collins, American physician and geneticist + 1950 – Péter Esterházy, Hungarian author (d. 2016) +1951 – Milija Aleksic, English footballer (d. 2012) + 1951 – José Eduardo González Navas, Spanish politician + 1951 – Julian Lloyd Webber, English cellist, conductor, and educator + 1951 – Elizabeth Symons, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, English politician +1952 – Kenny Aaronson, American bass player + 1952 – Mickey O'Sullivan, Irish footballer and manager + 1952 – David Urquhart, Scottish bishop +1954 – Katsuhiro Otomo, Japanese director, screenwriter, and illustrator +1956 – Boris Šprem, Croatian lawyer and politician, 8th President of Croatian Parliament (d. 2012) +1957 – Lothaire Bluteau, Canadian actor + 1957 – Bobbi Brown, American make-up artist and author + 1957 – Mikhail Pletnev, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor +1958 – Peter Capaldi, Scottish actor + 1958 – Jim Smith, English musician +1959 – Steve Byrnes, American sportscaster and producer (d. 2015) + 1959 – Marie-Thérèse Fortin, Canadian actress +1960 – Brad Garrett, American actor and comedian + 1960 – Myoma Myint Kywe, Burmese historian and journalist + 1960 – Osamu Sato, Japanese graphic artist, programmer, and composer + 1960 – Tina Rosenberg, American journalist and author + 1960 – Pat Symcox, South African cricketer +1961 – Robert Carlyle, Scottish actor and director +1962 – Guillaume Leblanc, Canadian athlete +1964 – Brian Adams, American wrestler (d. 2007) + 1964 – Jeff Andretti, American race car driver + 1964 – Jim Grabb, American tennis player + 1964 – Jeff Hopkins, Welsh international footballer and manager + 1964 – Gina McKee, English actress +1965 – Tom Dey, American director and producer + 1965 – Alexandre Jardin, French author + 1965 – Craig McDermott, Australian cricketer and coach +1966 – André Boisclair, Canadian lawyer and politician + 1966 – Jan Boklöv, Swedish ski jumper + 1966 – David Justice, American baseball player and sportscaster + 1966 – Greg Maddux, American baseball player, coach, and manager +1967 – Nicola Berti, Italian international footballer + 1967 – Barrett Martin, American drummer, songwriter, and producer + 1967 – Julia Zemiro, French-Australian actress, comedian, singer and writer +1968 – Anthony Michael Hall, American actor +1969 – Brad Ausmus, American baseball player and manager + 1969 – Martyn LeNoble, Dutch-American bass player + 1969 – Vebjørn Selbekk, Norwegian journalist +1970 – Shizuka Kudo, Japanese singer and actress +1971 – Miguel Calero, Colombian footballer and manager (d. 2012) + 1971 – Carlos Pérez, Dominican-American baseball player + 1971 – Gregg Zaun, American baseball player and sportscaster +1972 – Paul Devlin, English-Scottish footballer and manager + 1972 – Roberto Mejía, Dominican baseball player + 1972 – Dean Potter, American rock climber and BASE jumper (d. 2015) +1973 – Roberto Ayala, Argentinian footballer + 1973 – Adrien Brody, American actor + 1973 – Hidetaka Suehiro, Japanese video game director and writer + 1973 – David Miller, American tenor +1974 – Da Brat, American rapper +1975 – Lita, American wrestler + 1975 – Luciano Almeida, Brazilian footballer + 1975 – Avner Dorman, Israeli-American composer and academic + 1975 – Anderson Silva, Brazilian mixed martial artist and boxer +1976 – Christian Älvestam, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist + 1976 – Georgina Chapman, English model, actress, and fashion designer, co-founded Marchesa + 1976 – Anna DeForge, American basketball player + 1976 – Kyle Farnsworth, American baseball player + 1976 – Nadine Faustin-Parker, Haitian hurdler + 1976 – Jason Wiemer, Canadian ice hockey player +1977 – Nate Fox, American basketball player (d. 2014) + 1977 – Martin Kaalma, Estonian footballer + 1977 – Sarah Michelle Gellar, American actress and producer + 1977 – Rob McElhenney, American actor, producer, and screenwriter + 1977 – Luke Priddis, Australian rugby league player +1978 – Roland Lessing, Estonian biathlete +1979 – Rebecca DiPietro, American wrestler and model + 1979 – Marios Elia, Cypriot footballer + 1979 – Ross Filipo, New Zealand rugby player + 1979 – Noé Pamarot, French footballer + 1979 – Kerem Tunçeri, Turkish basketball player +1980 – Win Butler, American-Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist + 1980 – Jeremy Smith, New Zealand rugby league player +1981 – Mustafa Güngör, German rugby player + 1981 – Amy Leach, English director and producer +1982 – Uğur Boral, Turkish footballer + 1982 – Larissa França, Brazilian volleyball player +1983 – Simona La Mantia, Italian triple jumper + 1983 – James McFadden, Scottish footballer + 1983 – William Obeng, Ghanaian-American football player + 1983 – Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Georgian basketball player +1984 – Blake Costanzo, American football player + 1984 – Charles Hamelin, Canadian speed skater + 1984 – Harumafuji Kōhei, Mongolian sumo wrestler, the 70th Yokozuna + 1984 – Tyler Thigpen, American football player +1986 – Matt Derbyshire, English footballer +1987 – Michael Baze, American jockey (d. 2011) + 1987 – Erwin Hoffer, Austrian footballer + 1987 – Wilson Kiprop, Kenyan runner +1988 – Eric Gryba, Canadian ice hockey player + 1988 – Eliška Klučinová, Czech heptathlete + 1988 – Brad Sinopoli, Canadian football player + 1988 – Anthony Modeste, French footballer +1989 – Joe Haden, American football player +1995 – Baker Mayfield, American football player + 1995 – Georgie Friedrichs, Australian rugby sevens player +1996 – Abigail Breslin, American actress +1997 – D. J. Moore, American football player +1999 – Chase Young, American football player +2000 – Patrick Surtain II, American football player + +Deaths + +Pre-1600 +911 – Pope Sergius III, pope of the Roman Catholic Church +1070 – Gerard, Duke of Lorraine (b. c. 1030) +1099 – Conrad, Bishop of Utrecht (b. before 1040) +1132 – Mstislav I of Kiev (b. 1076) +1279 – Bolesław the Pious, Duke of Greater Poland (b. 1224) +1322 – Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere, English soldier and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1275) +1345 – Richard de Bury, English bishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of The United Kingdom (b. 1287) +1424 – Lucia Visconti, English countess (b. 1372) +1433 – Lidwina, Dutch saint (b. 1380) +1471 – Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, English nobleman, known as "the Kingmaker" (b. 1428) + 1471 – John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu (b. 1431) +1480 – Thomas de Spens, Scottish statesman and prelate (b. c. 1415) +1488 – Girolamo Riario, Lord of Imola and Forli (b. 1443) +1574 – Louis of Nassau (b. 1538) +1578 – James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, English husband of Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1534) +1587 – Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland (b. 1548) +1599 – Henry Wallop, English politician (b. 1540) + +1601–1900 +1609 – Gasparo da Salò, Italian violin maker (b. 1540) +1662 – William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele, English politician (b. 1582) +1682 – Avvakum, Russian priest and saint (b. 1620) +1721 – Michel Chamillart, French politician, Controller-General of Finances (b. 1652) +1740 – Lady Catherine Jones, English philanthropist (b.1672) +1759 – George Frideric Handel, German-English organist and composer (b. 1685) +1785 – William Whitehead, English poet and playwright (b. 1715) +1792 – Maximilian Hell, Slovak-Hungarian astronomer and priest (b. 1720) +1843 – Joseph Lanner, Austrian violinist and composer (b. 1801) +1864 – Charles Lot Church, American-Canadian politician (b. 1777) +1886 – Anna Louisa Geertruida Bosboom-Toussaint, Dutch novelist (b. 1812) +1888 – Emil Czyrniański, Polish chemist (b. 1824) + +1901–present +1910 – Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter and sculptor (b. 1856) +1911 – Addie Joss, American baseball player and journalist (b. 1880) + 1911 – Henri Elzéar Taschereau, Canadian lawyer and jurist, 4th Chief Justice of Canada (b. 1836) +1912 – Henri Brisson, French politician, 50th Prime Minister of France (b. 1835) +1914 – Hubert Bland, English activist, co-founded the Fabian Society (b. 1855) +1916 – Gina Krog, Norwegian suffragist and women's rights activist (b. 1847) +1917 – L. L. Zamenhof, Polish physician and linguist, created Esperanto (b. 1859) +1919 – Auguste-Réal Angers, Canadian judge and politician, 6th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1837) +1925 – John Singer Sargent, American painter (b. 1856) +1930 – Vladimir Mayakovsky, Georgian-Russian actor, playwright, and poet (b. 1893) +1931 – Richard Armstedt, German philologist, historian, and educator (b. 1851) +1935 – Emmy Noether, German-American mathematician and academic (b. 1882) +1938 – Gillis Grafström, Swedish figure skater and architect (b. 1893) +1943 – Yakov Dzhugashvili, Georgian-Russian lieutenant (b. 1907) +1950 – Ramana Maharshi, Indian guru and philosopher (b. 1879) +1951 – Al Christie, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1881) +1962 – M. Visvesvaraya, Indian engineer and scholar (b. 1860) +1963 – Rahul Sankrityayan, Indian monk and historian (b. 1893) +1964 – Tatyana Afanasyeva, Russian-Dutch mathematician and theorist (b. 1876) + 1964 – Rachel Carson, American biologist and author (b. 1907) +1968 – Al Benton, American baseball player (b. 1911) +1969 – Matilde Muñoz Sampedro, Spanish actress (b. 1900) +1975 – Günter Dyhrenfurth, German-Swiss mountaineer, geologist, and explorer (b. 1886) + 1975 – Fredric March, American actor (b. 1897) +1976 – José Revueltas, Mexican author and activist (b. 1914) +1978 – Joe Gordon, American baseball player and manager (b. 1915) + 1978 – F. R. Leavis, English educator and critic (b. 1895) +1983 – Pete Farndon, English bassist (The Pretenders) (b. 1952) + 1983 – Gianni Rodari, Italian journalist and author (b. 1920) +1986 – Simone de Beauvoir, French novelist and philosopher (b. 1908) +1990 – Thurston Harris, American singer (b. 1931) + 1990 – Olabisi Onabanjo, Nigerian politician, 3rd Governor of Ogun State (b. 1927) +1991 – Randolfo Pacciardi, centre-left Italian politician (b. 1899) +1992 – Irene Greenwood, Australian radio broadcaster and feminist and peace activist (b. 1898) +1994 – Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, Pakistani chemist and scholar (b. 1897) +1995 – Burl Ives, American actor, folk singer, and writer (b. 1909) +1999 – Ellen Corby, American actress and screenwriter (b. 1911) + 1999 – Anthony Newley, English singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1931) + 1999 – Bill Wendell, American television announcer (b. 1924) +2000 – Phil Katz, American computer programmer, co-created the zip file format (b. 1962) + 2000 – August R. Lindt, Swiss lawyer and politician (b. 1905) + 2000 – Wilf Mannion, English footballer (b. 1918) +2001 – Jim Baxter, Scottish footballer (b. 1939) + 2001 – Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1927) +2003 – Jyrki Otila, Finnish politician (b. 1941) +2004 – Micheline Charest, English-Canadian television producer, co-founded the Cookie Jar Group (b. 1953) +2006 – Mahmut Bakalli, Kosovo politician (b. 1936) +2007 – June Callwood, Canadian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1924) + 2007 – Don Ho, American singer and ukulele player (b. 1930) + 2007 – René Rémond, French historian and economist (b. 1918) +2008 – Tommy Holmes, American baseball player and manager (b. 1917) + 2008 – Ollie Johnston, American animator and voice actor (b. 1912) +2009 – Maurice Druon, French author (b. 1918) +2010 – Israr Ahmed, Pakistani theologian and scholar (b. 1932) + 2010 – Alice Miller, Polish-French psychologist and author (b. 1923) + 2010 – Peter Steele, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1962) +2011 – Jean Gratton, Canadian Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1924) +2012 – Émile Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1919) + 2012 – Jonathan Frid, Canadian actor (b. 1924) + 2012 – Piermario Morosini, Italian footballer (b. 1986) +2013 – Efi Arazi, Israeli businessman, founded the Scailex Corporation (b. 1937) + 2013 – Colin Davis, English conductor and educator (b. 1927) + 2013 – R. P. Goenka, Indian businessman, founded RPG Group (b. 1930) + 2013 – George Jackson, American singer-songwriter (b. 1945) + 2013 – Armando Villanueva, Peruvian politician, 121st Prime Minister of Peru (b. 1915) + 2013 – Charlie Wilson, American politician (b. 1943) + 2013 – Claudia Maupin and Oliver "Chip" Northup, residents of Davis, California who were tortured, murdered, and mutilated in their home by a 15-year-old, Daniel William Marsh +2014 – Nina Cassian, Romanian poet and critic (b. 1924) + 2014 – Crad Kilodney, American-Canadian author (b. 1948) + 2014 – Wally Olins, English businessman and academic (b. 1930) + 2014 – Mick Staton, American soldier and politician (b. 1940) +2015 – Klaus Bednarz, German journalist and author (b. 1942) + 2015 – Mark Reeds, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (b. 1960) + 2015 – Percy Sledge, American singer (b. 1940) + 2015 – Roberto Tucci, Italian cardinal and theologian (b. 1921) +2019 – Bibi Andersson, Swedish actress (b.1935) +2020 – Carol D'Onofrio, American public health researcher (b. 1936) +2021 – Bernie Madoff, American mastermind of the world's largest Ponzi scheme (b. 1938) +2022 – Mike Bossy, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (b. 1957) + 2022 – Ilkka Kanerva, Finnish politician (b. 1948) + 2022 – Orlando Julius, Nigerian saxophonist, singer (b. 1943) + 2023 – Mark Sheehan, Irish guitarist (The Script) (b. 1976) + +Holidays and observances +Ambedkar Jayanti (India) +Bengali New Year (Bangladesh) +Black Day (South Korea) +Christian feast day: +Anthony, John, and Eustathius +Bénézet +Henry Beard Delany (U.S. Episcopal Church) +Domnina of Terni +Lidwina +Peter González +Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus +April 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) +Commemoration of Anfal Genocide Against the Kurds (Iraqi Kurdistan) +Day of Mologa (Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia) +Day of the Georgian language (Georgia) +Dhivehi Language Day (Maldives) +N'Ko Alphabet Day (Mande speakers) +Pan American Day (several countries in the Americas) +Takayama Spring Festival begins (Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan) + Vaisakhi (Since 2011) +Youth Day (Angola) +World Quantum Day + +References + +Sources + +External links + + BBC: On This Day + + Historical Events on April 14 + +Days of the year +April +Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corner of Oregon, and Astoria is located on the south shore of the Columbia River, where the river flows into the Pacific Ocean. The city is named for John Jacob Astor, an investor and entrepreneur from New York City, whose American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site and established a monopoly in the fur trade in the early 19th century. Astoria was incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly on October 20, 1856. + +The city is served by the deepwater Port of Astoria. Transportation includes the Astoria Regional Airport. U.S. Route 30 and U.S. Route 101 are the main highways, and the Astoria–Megler Bridge connects to neighboring Washington across the river. The population was 10,181 at the 2020 census. + +History + +Prehistoric settlements +During archeological excavations in Astoria and Fort Clatsop in 2012, trading items from American settlers with Native Americans were found, including Austrian glass beads and falconry bells. The present area of Astoria belonged to a large, prehistoric Native American trade system of the Columbia Plateau. + +19th century + +The Lewis and Clark Expedition spent the winter of 1805–1806 at Fort Clatsop, a small log structure southwest of modern-day Astoria. The expedition had hoped a ship would come by that could take them back east, but instead, they endured a torturous winter of rain and cold. They later returned overland and by internal rivers, the way they had traveled west. Today, the fort has been recreated and is part of Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. + +In 1811, British explorer David Thompson, the first person known to have navigated the entire length of the Columbia River, reached the partially constructed Fort Astoria near the mouth of the river. He arrived two months after the Pacific Fur Company's ship, the Tonquin. The fort constructed by the Tonquin party established Astoria as a U.S., rather than a British, settlement and became a vital post for American exploration of the continent. It was later used as an American claim in the Oregon boundary dispute with European nations. + +The Pacific Fur Company, a subsidiary of John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company, was created to begin fur trading in the Oregon Country. During the War of 1812, in 1813, the company's officers sold its assets to their Canadian rivals, the North West Company, which renamed the site Fort George. The fur trade remained under British control until U.S. pioneers following the Oregon Trail began filtering into the town in the mid-1840s. The Treaty of 1818 established joint U.S. – British occupancy of the Oregon Country. + +Washington Irving, a prominent American writer with a European reputation, was approached by John Jacob Astor to mythologize the three-year reign of his Pacific Fur Company. Astoria (1835), written while Irving was Astor's guest, promoted the importance of the region in the American psyche. In Irving's words, the fur traders were "Sinbads of the wilderness", and their venture was a staging point for the spread of American economic power into both the continental interior and outward in Pacific trade. + +In 1846, the Oregon Treaty divided the mainland at the 49th parallel north, making Astoria officially part of the United States. +As the Oregon Territory grew and became increasingly more colonized by Americans, Astoria likewise grew as a port city near the mouth of the great river that provided the easiest access to the interior. The first U.S. post office west of the Rocky Mountains was established in Astoria in 1847 and official state incorporation in 1876. + +Astoria attracted a host of immigrants beginning in the late 19th century: Nordic settlers, primarily Swedes, Swedish speaking Finns, and Chinese soon became larger parts of the population. The Nordic settlers mostly lived in Uniontown, near the present-day end of the Astoria–Megler Bridge, and took fishing jobs; the Chinese tended to do cannery work, and usually lived either downtown or in bunkhouses near the canneries. By the late 1800s, 22% of Astoria's population was Chinese. Astoria also had a significant population of Indians, especially Sikhs from Punjab; the Ghadar Party, a political movement among Indians on the West Coast of the U.S. and Canada to overthrow British rule in India, was officially founded on July 15, 1913, in Astoria. + +20th and 21st centuries +In 1883, and again in 1922, downtown Astoria was devastated by fire, partly because the buildings were constructed mostly of wood, a readily available material. The buildings were entirely raised off the marshy ground on wooden pilings. Even after the first fire, the same building format was used. In the second fire, flames spread quickly again, and the collapsing streets took out the water system. Frantic citizens resorted to dynamite, blowing up entire buildings to create fire stops. + +Astoria has served as a port of entry for over a century and remains the trading center for the lower Columbia basin. In the early 1900s, the Callendar Navigation Company was an important transportation and maritime concern based in the city. It has long since been eclipsed in importance by Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, as economic hubs on the coast of the Pacific Northwest. Astoria's economy centered on fishing, fish processing, and lumber. In 1945, about 30 canneries could be found along the Columbia River. + +In the early 20th century, the North Pacific Brewing Company contributed substantially to the economic well-being of the town. Before 1902, the company was owned by John Kopp, who sold the firm to a group of five men, one of whom was Charles Robinson, who became the company's president in 1907. The main plant for the brewery was located on East Exchange Street. + +As the Pacific salmon resource diminished, canneries were closed. In 1974, the Bumble Bee Seafoods corporation moved its headquarters out of Astoria and gradually reduced its presence until closing its last Astoria cannery in 1980. The lumber industry likewise declined in the late 20th century. Astoria Plywood Mill, the city's largest employer, closed in 1989. The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway discontinued service to Astoria in 1996, as it did not provide a large enough market. + +From 1921 to 1966, a ferry route across the Columbia River connected Astoria with Pacific County, Washington. In 1966, the Astoria–Megler Bridge was opened. The bridge completed U.S. Route 101 and linked Astoria with Washington on the opposite shore of the Columbia, replacing the ferry service. + +Today, tourism, Astoria's growing art scene, and light manufacturing are the main economic activities of the city. Logging and fishing persist, but at a fraction of their former levels. Since 1982 it has been a port of call for cruise ships, after the city and port authority spent $10 million in pier improvements to accommodate these larger ships. + +To avoid Mexican ports of call during the swine flu outbreak of 2009, many cruises were rerouted to include Astoria. The floating residential community MS The World visited Astoria in June 2009. + +The town's seasonal sport fishing tourism has been active for several decades. Visitors attracted by heritage tourism and the historic elements of the city have supplanted fishing in the economy. Since the early 21st century, the microbrewery/brewpub scene and a weekly street market have helped popularize the area as a destination. + +In addition to the replicated Fort Clatsop, another point of interest is the Astoria Column, a tower high, built atop Coxcomb Hill above the town. Its inner circular staircase allows visitors to climb to see a panoramic view of the town, the surrounding lands, and the Columbia flowing into the Pacific. The tower was built in 1926. Financing was provided by the Great Northern Railway, seeking to encourage tourists, and Vincent Astor, a great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, in commemoration of the city's role in the family's business history and the region's early history.