title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: Returning home, Arno is turned away by Élise, who reveals that the message he failed to deliver was a warning of her father's impending murder. Arno joins the Brotherhood to eliminate the Templars behind de la Serre's death. During his investigation, Arno rescues François-Thomas Germain (Julian Casey), a silversmith held hostage by the acting-Templar Grand Master Lafreniere (Noel Burton). Arno assassinates Lafreniere, only to discover that he was the one trying to warn de la Serre and that Germain is actually a Templar extremist who staged a coup after being banished from the Order by de la Serre. When Germain begins murdering Élise's faction of Templars, Arno persuades her to parley with the Brotherhood. The Assassin Mentor Mirabeau (Harry Standjofski) agrees to help, hoping to broker peace between the Orders, but is later murdered by Bellec, who sought to prevent the alliance and purge the Assassin leadership he saw as weak to allow the Brotherhood to be reborn. Arno is forced to kill Bellec when he tries to defend his actions as a necessary evil and convince Arno to join him.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: While searching the Tuileries Palace for potentially damning letters from Mirabeau to King Louis, Arno encounters Napoleon Bonaparte, who helps him escape. Arno realizes that Germain plots to spark a mass revolt against the King, and assassinates the Templars aiding him with Napoleon and Élise's help, rekindling his relationship with the latter in the process. With the Revolution in full swing, Arno tracks Germain to Louis' execution, but chooses to protect Élise rather than pursue him. Élise rejects him for this, and Arno is exiled from the Brotherhood for his rash actions, falling into a drunken depression. Arno languishes for months before he is found in Versailles by Élise, who convinces him to return as Paris is tearing itself apart during the Reign of Terror. With Élise's help, Arno discredits Maximilien Robespierre, whom Germain had placed in charge of maintaining chaos. After Arno and Élise find Robespierre, Élise shoots him in the jaw and makes him write down Germain's location.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: Arno confronts Germain, who is empowered by de Molay's sword—a Sword of Eden—and pursues him to the Templar crypt underneath the Paris Temple, where Élise soon arrives to help. After Arno is temporarily incapacitated, Élise tries to take on Germain by herself, but the Sword explodes, killing Élise and mortally wounding Germain. Arno kills Germain, who confirms he is the Sage and that he wanted to purge the Templars who had forgotten de Molay's teachings. The game ends with Arno explaining how his understanding of the Creed has changed, and promising to watch over Paris and keep Élise's memory alive. Years later, Arno recovers Germain's skeleton and places it in the Catacombs of Paris. Bishop is relieved, confident that Abstergo will not be able to find it.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: One week after Élise's death, a devastated Arno finds refuge in Franciade. He is contacted by the Marquis de Sade, who requests his help in finding the manuscript of Nicolas de Condorcet, hidden in the tomb beneath the city, in exchange for a ship to take Arno to Egypt. During his search, Arno encounters tomb raiders led by Captain Philippe Rose (Taylor Price), a subordinate of Napoleon, who wishes to retrieve an artifact—an Apple of Eden—from a Precursor temple under the city's church. Arno finds that the manuscript has been stolen by a child thief, Léon (Eamon Stocks), who was captured by the raiders. Arno rescues Léon and retrieves the manuscript, but declines to help him stop the raiders. After a vision of Élise and hearing Léon's pleas, however, he changes his mind.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: After discovering the temple's location and retrieving the key from one of Napoleon's officers, Arno opens the door to the temple, but is ambushed by Rose, who has betrayed Napoleon and wishes to take the Apple for himself. Arno survives the ambush, kills Rose, and retrieves the Apple, using it to repel the remaining raiders and escape. He later meets de Sade and gives him the manuscript. Arno decides to stay in France, and contacts the Brotherhood to deliver the Apple to Egypt, far from the reach of Napoleon, who is arrested for desertion and treason.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: Development for the game began shortly after the completion of 2010's "", with the core development team splitting off during the early stages of development on "Assassin's Creed III". On March 19, 2014, early screenshots of the game were leaked, as well as its title "Unity". The leak revealed that Unity would feature a new location and time period, Paris during the French Revolution, a new assassin, and that it would be released in late 2014 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. On March 21, Ubisoft confirmed the game's existence, having been in development for more than three years, by releasing pre-alpha game footage. They also confirmed the game's release date of Q4 2014, and that it would also see a release on Windows. Ubisoft writer Jeffrey Yohalem revealed that the French Revolution setting for the game was deliberately teased, along with "Assassin's Creed III"s American Revolution setting, in symbols seen at the end of "Brotherhood". Ubisoft Montreal is the lead developer for the project, with contributing work from the Ubisoft studios in Toronto, Kyiv, Singapore, Shanghai, Annecy, Montpellier, Bucharest, Quebec, and Chengdu.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: At E3 2014, trailers were released for the game, demonstrating the game's cooperative multiplayer mode for up to four players, a first for the series. The trailer featured Lorde's cover of Everybody Wants to Rule the World, which was produced by Michael A. Levine and Lucas Cantor. The development team was able to use the new power of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to improve the NPC crowds. Up to 1000 individual AI characters can appear in a crowd, each acting independently and reacting to each other as well as the player's actions. The PC version of the game uses Nvidia's GameWorks technology such as TXAA anti-aliasing, advanced DX11 tessellation and Nvidia PhysX technology, due to a partnership between Ubisoft and Nvidia.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: Lead game designer Benjamin Plich has said this game will be more difficult than previous entries thanks to the removal of the counter button and more aggressive guards. Plich also said that the game will feature synchronized Double Assassinations.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: In August 2014, "Assassin's Creed Rogue" was announced for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and was revealed to have ties to the story in "Unity".


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: The game is written in a combination of C++ and C#, totaling an estimated 15.5 million lines of code of the former, and five million of the latter.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: On October 6, 2014, Ubisoft announced that they had enlisted the help of academic historians such as Laurent Turcot, professor at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières for daily life of 18th-century Paris and Jean Clement Martin professor at the Sorbonne, to revise the script.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: Like other games in the series, "Unity" portrays a large number of real world Parisian landmarks, including the Tuileries Palace and Notre-Dame Cathedral and, through the time anomalies feature, it also includes the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty, neither of which existed at the time of the French Revolution. Notre-Dame Cathedral was modeled down to the brick, a process that took Ubisoft artist Caroline Miousse two years to complete. Because of the detail that went into the recreation of the Notre-Dame Cathedral for the game, some believe the game may help in the reconstruction of the Cathedral following the April 2019 fire that destroyed some of the building. Ubisoft donated €500,000 to the reconstruction of the cathedral and also provided "Unity" as a free download for the week following the event so as to give everyone a chance to explore the cathedral as they had modeled it in game.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: The game was originally intended to be released worldwide on October 28, 2014. However, on August 28, 2014, it was delayed until November 11, 2014, in North America; November 13, 2014, in Europe and Australasia; and November 14, 2014, in the United Kingdom. On the delay, Vincent Pontbriand, senior producer at Ubisoft, said, "As we got close to the finish, we realized we were near the target but still needed a bit more time to hone some of the details to make sure "Assassin's Creed Unity" is exceptional." Additionally, the game received a day one patch with further updates to the game.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: "Assassin's Creed Unity" received "mixed or average" reviews from critics upon release, according to review aggregator Metacritic.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: Matt Miller from Game Informer gave the game 8/10, praising the detailed environment and architecture, decent voice acting, strategy-required missions, challenging gameplay and well-paced story missions, but criticizing the controls and balance, as well as game-breaking technical issues. He also stated that both the navigation system and the combat system still needed to be improved. Louise Blain from GamesRadar gave the game 4/5, praising the dense and atmospheric game world, character-focused mission design, overhauled free-running mechanics, in-depth character customization and satisfying combat. However, she criticized the game's framerate and poor enemy AI design.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: Chris Carter from Destructoid gave the game 7/10, praising the new movement system, likable lead characters, iconic setting, smooth animation and improved draw distance. New additions such as character customization and huge crowds were also praised. However, he criticized the predictable story, technical issues, and the mission design of co-op multiplayer, as it is impossible to play some missions solo. He stated that ""Unity" feels like a step back. ... It lacks that grand sense of roaming the uncharted seas in "", or even the open-ended feel of the wilderness in "Assassin's Creed III", but it's a journey worth taking if you're already into the series." Tom Bramwell from Eurogamer gave the game 7/10, praised the setting, rich content, inspiring story and interesting side-missions. However, he criticized the over-familiar and unimaginative mission-design, overzealous auto-correct system in the free-running mechanics and the lack of weapon customization. He described the game as a "missed opportunity".


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: Marty Silva from IGN gave the game 7.8/10, praising the recreation of Paris and ambitious ideas presented in the multiplayer, but criticizing the unrefined stealth, weak story and lack of a strong lead character. He stated that "the true new-gen "Assassin's Creed" game is a gorgeous, entertaining, and successful proof of concept for what lies ahead for the series, though it isn't what I'd call revolutionary."


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: Tom Senior from PC Gamer gave the game 65/100, saying that ""Unity" could become a perfectly enjoyable part of the "Assassin's Creed" canon. It's a solid campaign elevated by quality assassination missions and an extraordinary setting that might just push the big number at the bottom of this review into the 80s, but with a big selling point out of operation, a raft of technical issues, performance problems, microtransactions and stilted combat and free-running systems, "Unity"—in its current state—can only be considered a failed revolution." Sam Prell from Joystiq gave the game 2.5/5, saying that "It's hard not to appreciate everything that it [Unity] gets right, and you'll have a good time if you can wrangle some friends for co-op, but it's impossible to ignore where "Unity" falls tragically short." PC World stated that the game "is a new low for the "Assassin's Creed" series." The review also criticized "Assassin's Creed Unity" for its small scale, poor gameplay, and high minimum system requirements. Similarly, CNET stated that "[w]hile it will likely suffice for "Assassin's Creed" core fans, "Unity" stumbles throughout and never really finds its footing."


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: In April 2020, "Game Informer" ranked the game as the eighth best game in the "Assassin's Creed" series to date.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: Upon release, "Assassin's Creed Unity" was subject to widespread bugs and glitches, as well as performance and online connectivity issues. Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat apologized on behalf of the studio with regard to the poor launch of "Unity", stating that the "overall quality of the game was diminished by bugs and unexpected technical issues", and prevented users from "experiencing the game at its fullest potential". In response to the issues, Ubisoft announced that it would halt sales of the game's season pass and Gold Edition, and offer the first downloadable content (DLC) pack, "Dead Kings", for free. As compensation, those who bought the season pass received a free digital download of one of six Ubisoft games ("", "The Crew", "Far Cry 4", "Just Dance 2015", "Rayman Legends", or "Watch Dogs"), and would also "continue to have access to a variety of additional content [for "Unity"], including "Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China"". To claim the game, however, users had to forfeit their right to sue Ubisoft with regard to the game and the devaluation of the season pass.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: In February 2016, Ubisoft announced that it would not be announcing any additional "Assassin's Creed" games for the rest of the year, citing the many issues of "Unity" and stating that, "we've learned a lot based on your feedback." In this statement, Ubisoft pledged its commitment to evolve the game's mechanics in order to create "more enjoyable games". This news has possible connections to Ubisoft's third quarter financial report, which was released on the same day, and states that "Assassin's Creed Syndicate" had a "slower launch than expected."


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: The French Left Party and its frontman Jean-Luc Mélenchon criticized the historical interpretation the game was conveying about the French Revolution, depicting Robespierre as "a blood-thirsty monster" and Marie Antoinette as "a poor little girl". He has described Ubisoft's version of the historical period as "propaganda" that builds upon the growing sense of self-hatred spreading throughout France. Mélenchon has expressed his criticisms in multiple media appearances, telling the "New York Times" that, "Smearing the great revolution is dirty work that aims to instill the French with even more self-loathing and talk of decline. If we continue like this, no common identity will remain possible for the French besides religion and skin color."


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: Alexis Corbière, national secretary of the Left Party, said that "the game was conveying all the counter-revolutionary clichés that have been forged for two centuries". He added "To everyone who's gonna buy "Assassin's Creed Unity", I wish you a nice time. But I also tell you that having fun doesn't prevent you from thinking. Just play it, but don't let yourself be manipulated by the propaganda."


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: Without mentioning the criticism specifically, in an interview published on October 6, 2014, by "Time", the game's creative director Alex Amancio said "What we actually try to do, and I think this is just a personal belief that we have, is to avoid reducing history... We try very hard to portray things as factually as possible." Despite this, game producer Antoine Vimal du Monteil answered that, ultimately, ""Assassin's Creed Unity" is a mainstream video game, not a history lesson."


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: , Ubisoft has shipped a combined 10 million copies of "Assassin's Creed Unity" and "Assassin's Creed Rogue". From April 17 to 25, 2019, Ubisoft made the PC version available free of charge with a message encouraging donations to restore Notre Dame de Paris following the fire there on April 15, 2019. Thanks to this, Ubisoft donated €500,000 to help with the restoration and reconstruction of Paris' historic landmark.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: After the cooperative multiplayer mode was revealed at E3 2014, additional information about the mode was revealed by creative director Alex Amancio and technical director James Therien. Amancio stated that the mode did not include the ability to play as a female avatar, due to "the reality of production". Amancio added by saying, "It's double the animations, it's double the voices, all that stuff and double the visual assets. Especially because we have customizable assassins. It was really a lot of extra production work," which was echoed by Therien. Level designer Bruno St-André expanded on this by stating that an estimated 8,000 additional animations would have had to be recreated for a female avatar.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: This caused dissatisfaction in some video game community outlets. Brenna Hillier of VG247 noted how there were nine development teams working on the game, and said "Ubisoft has here trotted out a tired, stupid, constantly refuted excuse for why it has perpetuated the cycle of sexism and under-representation in the games industry." Tim Clark of PC Gamer made note "that previous "Assassin's Creed" games have had playable women as part of the multiplayer component, and that "Brotherhood" had you supported by on-call assassins, many of whom were female, so it's hardly like it can't be done." Clark also looked to the way Amancio and Therien answered the question and felt how they referenced "how much the team wanted to include playable female characters suggests... that this is probably a decision which hasn't gone down well internally." Former "Assassin's Creed" designer Jonathan Cooper responded by saying, "In my educated opinion, I would estimate this to be a day or two's work. Not a replacement of 8,000 animations." He also revealed that Aveline de Grandpré, the female protagonist of "", "shares more of Connor Kenway's animations than Edward Kenway does." Fans also created petitions urging Ubisoft to change their stance. Additionally, former "Assassin's Creed" game designer Patrice Désilets commented that Amancio's reasoning was valid, but that Ubisoft should put in the effort to let players have gender options.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: Amidst the community response, Insomniac Games published a video of their then-upcoming game "Sunset Overdrive". Taking a community question "Can you play as a female character?", the presenter answers positively while the player character is shown as a female dressed up to resemble Ezio Auditore.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: Amancio attempted to clear up any confusion, by stating, "I understand the issue, I understand the cause, and it is a noble one, but I don't think it's relevant in the case of "Unity". In "Unity" you play this character called Arno, and when you're playing co-op you're also playing Arno – everybody is. It's like Aiden Pearce in "Watch Dogs"... Arno has different skills - you select skill points in the game, there are gear elements that have an impact and all these weapons that make the character you make your own. But you're always playing Arno... The reason we're just changing the face and keeping the bodies is we want people to show off the gear that they pick up in the game through exploration. That's why we kept that."


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: On July 5, 2020 Tommy François the Vice President for Editorial & Creative Services was put on disciplinary leave and later let go amid allegations of sexual misconduct. He was the right hand man of Chief Creative Officer Serge Hascoët. The next day Maxime Béland Vice President Editorial resigned. Both had been accused of sexual misconduct but were promoted after complaints to HR. Béland had been accused of choking a female employee in 2014 a week after Unity was launched.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: A week later, in a press release, Ubisoft stated that three more of the top executives had chosen to resign from the company. This included Hascoët, Yannis Mallat Managing Director of Ubisoft Canada and Cécile Cornet the head of Global HR. The allegations from current and former staffers claimed that complaints to the HR had been ignored for several years. It allegedly described Ubisoft as a boy's club with the business meetings happening at strip clubs. The staff openly made misogynist comments and were encouraged by the senior leaders through their behavior.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: In a report by Jason Schreier in "Bloomberg News" the issues with Hascoët had gone back several years and had affected the creative development on the "Assassin's Creed" series and the use of female protagonists. Per the report later games that did feature female protagonists at the release, were later altered to diminish the female protagonists in online play. This was due to an ingrained belief by Hascoët that female characters did not sell video games.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: In October 2014, Ubisoft's senior producer Vincent Pontbriand made a statement that all console versions of the game would be locked at the same resolution of 900p. This was done "...to avoid all the debates and stuff." Many readers took this in reference to how the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are constantly compared in the media for raw power, presuming that the PlayStation 4 version of the game's resolution was lowered to reach parity with the Xbox One's, but Ubisoft later denied that this was the reason.


title: Assassin's Creed Unity

text: Instead, Pontbriand stated that the decision for parity came from the limitations of the consoles' CPUs. The number of NPCs and general amount of AI was paramount to keeping the game locked at 30 frames per second.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him in charge of their music shop, where he displayed a gift for talent-spotting. He first met the Beatles in 1961 at a lunchtime concert at Liverpool's Cavern Club. Although he had no experience of artist management, Epstein put them under contract and insisted that they abandon their scruff-image in favour of a new clean-cut style. He also attempted to get the Beatles a recording contract, eventually securing a deal with EMI's Parlophone label. Within months, the Beatles were international stars. Some of Epstein's other young discoveries had also prospered under his management. They included Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Tommy Quickly, Cilla Black and The Big Three. In 1967, he died of a barbiturate overdose, ruled as accidental, at the age of 32.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein's grandfather, Isaac Epstein, was Lithuanian-Jewish, arriving in Britain in the 1890s from what was then part of the Russian Empire at the age of eighteen. His grandmother Dinah was the daughter of Joseph, a draper, and Esther Hyman, who had emigrated from Russia to Britain (circa 1871/72) with their eldest son Jacob. The Hymans had six other children.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Isaac Epstein married Dinah Hyman in Manchester in 1900. In 1901, Isaac and Dinah were living at 80 Walton Road, Liverpool, with Isaac's sister Rachael Epstein, above the furniture dealership that he founded. Dinah and Isaac's third child, Harry Epstein, would become Brian Epstein's father.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Eventually the family moved to a larger home in the Anfield area of Liverpool at 27 Anfield Road. After Harry and his brother Leslie had joined the family firm, Isaac Epstein founded Epstein and Sons. He then enlarged the furniture business by taking over adjacent shops at 62/72 Walton Road to sell a range of other goods, such as musical instruments and household appliances. They called the expanding business NEMS (North End Music Stores), which offered lenient credit terms. Paul McCartney's father once bought a piano from them. Epstein's mother Malka (nicknamed "Queenie" by her family, as Malka means "queen" in Hebrew) was also involved in the Hyman furniture business, which also owned the Sheffield Veneering Company. Harry and Queenie married in 1933.


title: Brian Epstein

text: In 2003, the family home on Anfield Road was converted into a Beatles-themed hotel called Epstein House.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Brian Epstein was born on 19 September 1934 in 4 Rodney Street, Liverpool. Harry and Queenie also had another son named Clive, who was born 22 months after his older brother. During World War II the Epsteins moved to Southport, where two schools expelled Epstein for laziness and poor performance, but returned to Liverpool in 1945. The Epsteins lived at 197 Queens Drive, Childwall in Liverpool, and remained there for the next 30 years. The family was aided by a live-in nanny.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein's parents moved him from one boarding school to another, including Clayesmore School in Dorset, Liverpool College, and a Jewish school in Kent. He spent two years at Wrekin College in Wellington, Shropshire, where he was taught the violin. At Wrekin, Epstein suffered from the strict culture, possibly in part as a result of his suppressed homosexuality. Epstein fell in love with the arts, particularly theatre, and it was his one consistently successful school subject. His favourite book as a child was Pamela Brown's "The Swish of the Curtain". Shortly before his 16th birthday he sent a long letter to his father stating that he wanted to become a dress designer, but Harry Epstein was adamantly opposed, and after serving a six months' apprenticeship at another company his son finally had to "report for duty" at the family's furniture shop on a £5 per week wage.


title: Brian Epstein

text: In December 1952, Epstein was conscripted to do his national service as a data entry clerk into the Royal Army Service Corps, and was posted to the Albany Street Barracks near Regent's Park in London in spring 1953, where he was often reprimanded for not collecting his army pay. Epstein used this posting to explore London's high culture for the first time and also visited local relatives. By January 1954, Epstein had seen numerous Army psychiatrists, who recommended an early medical discharge.


title: Brian Epstein

text: After returning to Liverpool, he was put in charge of the Clarendon Furnishing shop in Hoylake and in 1955 was made a director of NEMS. In September 1956, he took a trip to London to meet a friend but after being there for only one day, was robbed of his passport, birth certificate, chequebook, wristwatch, and all the money he had in his possession. He did not want his parents to find out, so he worked as a department store clerk until he had earned enough money to buy a train ticket back to Liverpool. On returning home he confessed his homosexuality to a psychiatrist—a friend of the Epstein family—who suggested to Harry Epstein that his son should leave Liverpool as soon as possible. During the sessions, Epstein revealed his ambition of becoming an actor, so his parents allowed him to go to London to study.


title: Brian Epstein

text: In autumn 1956, Epstein enrolled in a two-year course at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. His RADA classmates included actors Susannah York, Albert Finney, and Peter O'Toole, but Epstein dropped out after the third term, saying that he had become "too much of a businessman to enjoy being a student, and I didn't like being a student at all." He said in 1964 that he "felt like an old man at the age of 21". He also revealed that he would have liked to produce a theatre play, or even act, "in something by Chekhov", or a "straight drama" by John Osborne.


title: Brian Epstein

text: In late April 1957, while a RADA student, Epstein was arrested for soliciting an undercover police officer for sex near the Swiss Cottage tube station. (Homosexual sex was illegal in Britain at this time.) He appeared in a Marylebone courthouse the next day and pleaded not guilty. He was sentenced to two years probation. While still serving probation in May 1958, he was assaulted by a casual sex partner in Liverpool and extorted for hush money. Epstein reported the encounter to the police, forcing him to testify in court and reveal his sexual orientation to his family. The court barred the press from revealing Epstein's identity during the trial. His assailant was sentenced to serve 2 years in jail, and Epstein was not charged.


title: Brian Epstein

text: After his withdrawal from RADA, Epstein returned to Liverpool, where his father put his son in charge of the record department of the family's newly opened NEMS music store on Great Charlotte Street. Epstein worked "day and night" at the store to make it a success, and it became one of the biggest musical retail outlets in Northern England. The Epsteins opened a second store at 12–14 Whitechapel, and Epstein was put in charge of the entire operation. He often walked across the road to the Lewis's department store (which also had a music section) where Peter Brown was employed. He watched Brown's sales technique and was impressed enough to lure him to work for NEMS with the offer of a higher salary and a commission on sales. Through his tireless work in the record department at NEMS, Epstein gained considerable knowledge of the pop music business.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein first noticed the Beatles in issues of "Mersey Beat" and on numerous posters around Liverpool created by his commercial artist associate Tony Booth, before he asked "Mersey Beat" editor Bill Harry who they were. Harry had previously convinced Epstein to sell the magazine at NEMS, with the Beatles featured on the front page of its second issue. The Beatles had recorded the "My Bonnie" single with Tony Sheridan in Germany, and some months after its release Epstein asked his personal assistant Alistair Taylor about it in NEMS. Epstein's version of the story was that customer Raymond Jones walked into the NEMS shop and asked him for the "My Bonnie" single, which made Epstein curious about the group. Taylor later claimed that he had used the name of Jones (a regular customer) to order the single and paid the deposit, knowing that Epstein would notice it and order further copies. Harry and McCartney later repudiated Epstein's story, as Harry had been talking to Epstein for a long time about the Beatles—the group that he promoted the most in "Mersey Beat"—with McCartney saying, "Brian knew perfectly well who the Beatles were; they were on the front page of the second issue of "Mersey Beat"". On 3 August 1961, Epstein started a regular music column in the "Mersey Beat" called "Stop the World—And Listen To Everything in It: Brian Epstein of NEMS".


title: Brian Epstein

text: The Beatles were due to perform a lunchtime concert at The Cavern Club on 9 November 1961. According to club owner Sytner, Epstein had visited the club quite a few times previously on Saturday nights, once asking Sytner to book a group for his twenty-first birthday party. Epstein asked Harry to arrange for Epstein and his assistant Taylor to watch the Beatles perform. The club allowed Epstein and Taylor to enter without queuing. They bypassed the line of fans at the door and heard Bob Wooler, the resident disc jockey, announce a welcome message over the club's public address system: "We have someone rather famous in the audience today. Mr Brian Epstein, the owner of NEMS ..." Epstein later talked about the performance: "I was immediately struck by their music, their beat and their sense of humour on stage—and, even afterwards, when I met them, I was struck again by their personal charm. And it was there that, really, it all started".


title: Brian Epstein

text: After the performance, Epstein and Taylor went into the dressing room (which he later described as being "as big as a broom cupboard") to talk to the group. The Beatles, all regular NEMS customers, immediately recognised Epstein, but before he could congratulate them on their performance George Harrison said, "And what brings Mr Epstein here?" Epstein replied with, "We just popped in to say hello. I enjoyed your performance." He introduced Taylor, who merely nodded a greeting, said, "Well done, then, goodbye" and left. Epstein and Taylor went to Peacock's restaurant in Hackins Hey for lunch, and during the meal Epstein asked Taylor what he thought about the group. Taylor replied that he honestly thought they were "absolutely awful", but there was something "remarkable" about them. Epstein sat there smiling for a long time before exclaiming, "I think they're tremendous!" Later, when Epstein was paying the bill, he grabbed Taylor's arm and said, "Do you think I should manage them?"


title: Brian Epstein

text: The Beatles played at The Cavern Club over the next three weeks, and Epstein was always there to watch them. He contacted Allan Williams (their previous promoter/manager) to confirm that Williams no longer had any ties to the group, but Williams advised Epstein "not to touch them with a fucking barge pole" because of a Hamburg concert percentage that the group had refused to pay.


title: Brian Epstein

text: In an afternoon meeting with the group at NEMS on 3 December 1961, Epstein proposed the idea of managing the Beatles. John Lennon, George Harrison, and Pete Best arrived late for the meeting, as they had been drinking at The Grapes pub in Mathew Street. McCartney also did not arrive on time because he had just got up and was "taking a bath", as Harrison explained. Epstein was upset, but Harrison placated him by saying, "He may be late, but he'll be very "clean"." Lennon had invited Wooler to be at the meeting so that he could give his opinion of Epstein, but he introduced Wooler by saying, "This is me dad." Epstein was reticent throughout the short meeting, only asking if they had a manager. After learning that they had not, he said, "It seems to me that with everything going on, someone ought to be looking after you." He had further meetings with the group on 6 and 10 December 1961.


title: Brian Epstein

text: McCartney, Harrison, and Best were under 21 and therefore needed the consent of their parents to enter into a contract. Best and his mother—Mona Best, owner of the Casbah Coffee Club—were impressed with Epstein's professional image as were the other Beatles, because he was a businessman, wore expensive suits, and owned a large car. Best's mother said that Epstein "could be good for them [the Beatles]". McCartney's father was sceptical about a Jewish manager and warned his son to be careful about finances. Lennon's aunt and guardian, Mimi Smith, was against the idea, believing that Epstein would lose interest when something attracted his attention, but Lennon, who had just turned 21, ignored his aunt's advice.


title: Brian Epstein

text: The Beatles signed a five-year contract with Epstein on 24 January 1962 giving Epstein 10 to 15 per cent of their income. They signed a new contract in October 1962 which gave Epstein 15, 20, or 25 per cent of revenues, depending on how much he helped the band earn. The Beatles would then share any income after various expenses had been deducted. Epstein then formed a management company, NEMS Enterprises, telling his parents that managing the group was only a part-time occupation and would not interfere with the family business.


title: Brian Epstein

text: The Beatles signed Epstein's first management contract, but Epstein did not. He later told Taylor, "Well, if they ever want to tear it up, they can hold me but I can't hold them". (Note: English law would have enforced the contract through the doctrine of part performance.) The contract stated that Epstein would receive a management commission of 25 per cent of the group's gross income after a certain financial threshold had been reached. The Beatles argued for a smaller percentage, but Epstein pointed out that he had been paying their expenses for months without receiving anything in return. On 1 October 1962, four days before the release of "Love Me Do", Epstein signed Lennon and McCartney to a three-year NEMS publishing contract.


title: Brian Epstein

text: In 1963, Epstein advised the creation of Northern Songs, a publishing company that would control the copyrights of all Lennon–McCartney compositions recorded between 1963 and 1973. Music publisher Dick James and his partner Charles Silver owned 51 per cent of the company, Lennon and McCartney 20 per cent each, and Epstein 9 per cent. By 1969, Lennon and McCartney had lost control of all publishing rights to ATV Music Publishing. Epstein's death in 1967 marked the beginning of the group's dissolution and had a profound effect on each Beatle.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein had no prior experience of artist management, yet he had a strong influence on the band's early dress code and stage demeanour. They had previously worn blue jeans and leather jackets, and they would stop and start songs when they felt like it or when an audience member requested a certain song. David Pomerran Szatmary states that when Epstein first saw them at the Cavern Club he thought, "They were a scruffy crowd in leather, and they were not very tidy and not very clean. They smoked as they played and they ate and talked and pretended to hit each other." Epstein encouraged them to wear suits and ties, insisted that they stop swearing, smoking, drinking, or eating on stage, and also suggested the famous synchronised bow at the end of their performances. McCartney was the first to agree with Epstein's suggestions, believing that they reflected Epstein's RADA training. Epstein explained that the process from leather jackets and jeans to suits took some time: "I encouraged them, at first, to get out of the leather jackets and jeans, and I wouldn't allow them to appear in jeans after a short time, and then, after that step, I got them to wear sweaters on stage, and then, very reluctantly, eventually, suits." Epstein took the group to Wirral to see his friend, master tailor Beno Dorn, who made them their first suits based on a design they had previously seen, but which Epstein approved of: "I thought it was an excellent design at the time."


title: Brian Epstein

text: Lennon resisted wearing suits and ties, but later said, "I'll wear a suit; I'll wear a bloody balloon if somebody's going to pay me." Epstein began seeking publicity by "charming and smarming ... the newspaper people", as Lennon said in 1972. According to McCartney, "The gigs went up in stature and though the pay went up only a little bit, it did go up"; they were "now playing better places". The group was now far more organised, having one single diary in which to record bookings, rather than using whoever's diary was at hand. The group usually called Epstein "Mr. Epstein" or "Brian" in interviews, but in private the group abbreviated his name to "Eppy" or "Bri".


title: Brian Epstein

text: Starting shortly after he met the Beatles, Epstein made numerous trips to London to visit record companies in the hope of securing a record contract, but many rejected him, including Columbia, Pye, Philips, Oriole, and most notoriously Decca. On 13 December 1961, at Epstein's invitation, Mike Smith of Decca travelled from London to Liverpool to watch the group at the Cavern, which led to an audition in London on 1 January 1962 (see The Beatles' Decca audition). Decca informed Epstein one month later that the audition tapes had been rejected. The Beatles later found out that Epstein had paid Decca producer Tony Meehan (ex-drummer of the Shadows) to produce the studio recordings. While Epstein was negotiating with Decca he also approached Ron White, an EMI marketing executive with whom he had a business relationship. White told Epstein he would play the Beatles' recording of "My Bonnie" the band made in Germany with Tony Sheridan for EMI's four A&R directors. However, White only played it for two of them—Wally Ridley and Norman Newell.


title: Brian Epstein

text: In early February 1962, Epstein visited the HMV store (owned by EMI) in 363 Oxford Street, London to have the Decca tape transferred to 78 rpm acetates. An HMV disc-cutter named Jim Foy liked the recordings, suggesting that Epstein should contact Sid Colman, the head of EMI's record publishing division, which controlled the publishing company Ardmore & Beechwood. Colman and his colleague Kim Bennett liked the Beatles' recording of "Like Dreamers Do" and sought to have EMI record Lennon–McCartney original songs, with Ardmore & Beechwood retaining the publishing rights; they sent Epstein to George Martin, the A&R manager of EMI's Parlophone label. Epstein met Martin on 13 February, where he played the acetates of the Decca audition. Epstein left the meeting optimistic, but Martin "wasn't knocked out at all" by the "lousy tape".


title: Brian Epstein

text: Martin later claimed that Epstein's conviction that the Beatles would become internationally famous finally convinced him to offer a recording contract. In fact, however, EMI managing director L. G. ("Len") Wood instructed Martin to sign the Beatles in May 1962, largely to appease the continued interest of Ardmore & Beechwood in Lennon–McCartney song publishing. Martin met with Epstein again on 9 May and offered him a standard EMI recording contract for the Beatles to record six "sides" (equivalent to three two-sided single releases) in their first year. Upon signing the contract, Epstein immediately sent a telegram to the Beatles (who were in Hamburg) and to the "Mersey Beat" music journal in Liverpool.


title: Brian Epstein

text: The recording contract gave the Beatles one penny (1d) for each record sold, which was split among the four members, meaning that each earned one farthing per copy. The royalty rate was further reduced for singles sold outside the UK; the group received half of one penny per single, which was again split amongst the whole group. Martin scheduled the first recording session to be on 6 June 1962 at Abbey Road Studios. Epstein later renegotiated EMI's royalty rate and, on 27 January 1967 the Beatles signed a new nine-year contract with EMI. The contract stipulated that 25 per cent would be paid to NEMS for the full nine years even if the Beatles decided not to renew their management contract with Epstein, which was up for renewal later that year.


title: Brian Epstein

text: By early 1962, the Beatles had played several gigs with Ringo Starr on occasions when Pete Best was ill, and they had performed at a recording session with Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison in Hamburg. The Beatles enjoyed Ringo's drumming style and social demeanor with the band, whereas Best rarely socialized with the other band members after gigs. Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison had also long believed Best to be a stylistically limited drummer. McCartney later remarked, "It had got to the stage that Pete was holding us back. What were we gonna do—pretend he was a wonderful drummer?"


title: Brian Epstein

text: After the group's first recording session on 6 June 1962, George Martin felt that using an experienced studio session drummer rather than Best would improve the recording (this was in accordance with normal practice at the time). Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison decided Best needed to be replaced and, uncomfortable with sacking him themselves, asked Epstein to sack Best so that Starr could join the band. Epstein was aware the Beatles had discussed replacing Pete but hoped it would not happen, and he was also not fond at this point of Starr. Epstein agonised about the decision, asking the Cavern's disc jockey Bob Wooler if it were a good idea. Wooler replied that Best was "very popular with the fans," who would not like it at all. Despite his reservations, Epstein accepted the Beatles' decision: "They liked Ringo, and I trusted the boys' judgment. If they were happy, so was I."


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein's task of sacking Best was complicated by the fact that he was under contract to provide management to all four members of the Beatles. Epstein thus had to secure paid work for Best if he was to leave the group. Epstein consulted a lawyer, who informed him that the Beatles could not simply expel Best under the terms of their contract; they could only legally disband and then re-form with Starr. Epstein planned to have Best become the drummer for the Merseybeats as an alternative that would satisfy his commitment to provide Best work.


title: Brian Epstein

text: In the meantime, Starr was playing with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, the resident group at Butlins' holiday complex in Skegness. Epstein searched for drummers who could temporarily fill in for Best until Starr was available to join the Beatles, such as Joe Brown's drummer, Bobby Graham. He also offered the position to Johnny Hutchinson of the Big Three, a group that Epstein managed at that time as well. Hutchinson turned down the offer, saying, "Pete Best is a very good friend of mine. I couldn't do the dirty on him"—although Hutchinson did play for The Beatles at short notice when Best did not turn up on the evening of his dismissal and for two subsequent bookings, until Starr was able to join.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein finally dismissed Best on 16 August, more than two months after the first recording session at EMI Studios. He called Best and Neil Aspinall to his office on Whitechapel Street, where he informed Best that the Beatles would replace him with Starr. When Best asked why, Epstein told him, "Mainly because they think you're not a good enough drummer. And also because at EMI Studios, George Martin said, 'the drummer isn't good enough'."


title: Brian Epstein

text: With the band's lineup now solidified, Epstein had his solicitor draw up a new management contract for the Beatles.


title: Brian Epstein

text: The Beatles made their last official live appearance in Britain on 1 May 1966, at the NME Annual Poll-Winners' All-Star Concert at the Empire Pool, Wembley Park. Although the concert was televised, the cameras were switched off while the Beatles played, because Brian Epstein and ABC TV had failed to agree over terms. They were filmed receiving their awards, however.


title: Brian Epstein

text: The Beatles' hectic schedule kept Epstein very busy between 1963 and 1965 with touring plus television and film work. Their last live concert was at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on 29 August 1966, and Epstein's management duties then changed to reflect the changing nature of their career. He pressured them to continue touring, but they steadfastly refused.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein once offered all four Beatles a fixed wage of £50 a week for life (). Harrison remembered that he was earning £25 a week at the time (), which was more than the £10 a week that his father was earning (). The group declined Epstein's offer, believing that they were worth much more than £50 a week.


title: Brian Epstein

text: NEMS had a staff of twenty-five at the time of its move from Liverpool to London in 1964. NEMS booked the Beatles' concerts, and it also presented groups as an opening act. It accrued money as promoter, booking agent, and manager for all concerts. The Beatles were constantly in demand by concert promoters, and Epstein took advantage of the situation to avoid paying some taxes by accepting "hidden" fees on the night of a performance, which he always kept in a brown paper bag.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein also successfully managed Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas (who had four hits with Lennon–McCartney songs), the Fourmost (Lennon wrote their first two singles), the Cyrkle (Epstein's first American group), and Cilla Black (who was Epstein's only female artist), as well as Tommy Quickly and Sounds Incorporated (later known as Sounds Inc.). He sent his roster of artists on "package tours" around the UK, a common practice at the time. This involved short sets by each act, alternating with a compère or a comedian. Epstein once revealed that even though he was entitled to be reimbursed by acts for expenses incurred, he paid for his own flights to and from the United States, as he did not see himself as being part of a touring group. Photographs, transport, and international telephone calls were paid from his own 25 percent share in profits.


title: Brian Epstein

text: The Beatles toured the Philippines in July 1966, playing two shows at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Manila. Epstein unintentionally snubbed the nation's first lady Imelda Marcos when presented with an invitation to a breakfast party. He had politely declined on behalf of the group, as it was their policy never to accept such official invitations. The Beatles and their entourage were ejected from their hotel on the same day and given a police escort to the airport, even though Epstein had publicly apologised for the misunderstanding in a televised statement, which was not seen or heard because of static. The entourage boarded the plane for home, but Epstein and Beatles' assistant Mal Evans were ordered off, both believing that they would not be allowed back on the plane. Epstein was forced to give the tax authorities £6,800 worth of Philippine peso notes earned from the Manila shows and to sign a tax bond verifying the exchange before being allowed back on the plane with Evans.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein added the Vic Lewis Organisation to NEMS in 1966, and later brought impresario Robert Stigwood in as a manager. He once offered to sell the control of NEMS to Stigwood, without telling any of his artists about the offer. McCartney was taking a more active interest in NEMS' finances, as it became known that some artists with more ruthless managers claimed to be benefiting from more commercially advantageous terms, such as the Rolling Stones under the management of Allen Klein. After Epstein's death, Clive Epstein assumed control of NEMS as the company's second-largest shareholder. Stigwood then tried to take over management of NEMS but all four Beatles vigorously objected, with Lennon saying, "We don't know you. Why would we do this?"


title: Brian Epstein

text: McCartney admitted that they had always signed all the contracts that Epstein presented to them without reading them first, but after Epstein's death Lennon complained, "Well, he was alright. I've found out since, of course, that he wasn't quite as honest to us as he made out." Despite this, other interviews with Lennon report him as being loyal to Epstein's memory: "We had complete faith in him when he was running us. To us, he was the expert." When asked in 1964 about his standing as a manager or businessman, Epstein replied, "Fair, as a businessman, fair. I've got a business background, and probably a reasonable business brain. I'm no, sort of, genius [laughter]." Asked about his deficiencies, Epstein replied, "I'm probably too conscious of ideas, rather than finance behind ideas."


title: Brian Epstein

text: Before the Beatles achieved nationwide success in Britain, Epstein had permitted a company (run by his cousins and initially catering to fan club members), to produce Beatles sweaters for 30 shillings (£1.50) and badges for 6 pence (6d) (2½p). It sold 15,000 sweaters and 50,000 badges as the group's popularity grew. When Beatlemania swept the UK in November 1963, Epstein was besieged by novelty-goods companies desperate to use the Beatles name on plastic guitars, drums, disc racks, badges, belts and other merchandise. Epstein refused to allow the Beatles to endorse any product directly, but through NEMS Enterprises he granted discretionary licences to companies who were able to produce good-quality products at a fair price, even though many companies were already selling products without a licence.


title: Brian Epstein

text: During the first Beatles trip to the United States, merchandisers pitched many products to Epstein, including Beatles clocks, pens, cigarette lighters, plastic wigs, bracelets, games, etc., but he rejected them all. This was because he had already allowed David Jacobs, the lawyer for NEMS, to give away 90 per cent of merchandising rights to one Nicky Byrne, in the UK. This was later deemed to be a disastrous mistake, as it left only 10 per cent for Epstein, NEMS and the Beatles, but David Jacobs subsequently renegotiated the royalty rate to 49% at Epstein's behest in August 1964.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Byrne then took over Epstein's Stramsact merchandising in the UK and set up Seltaeb (Beatles spelled backwards) in the United States. While the Beatles were ensconced in the Plaza Hotel in New York City, Epstein was further besieged by calls and visits from promoters, retailers, television commentators and hustlers.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Mindful of the number of records the group was selling in the United States, Capitol Records sent a well-spoken Yorkshire woman, Wendy Hanson, to the Plaza Hotel to act as Epstein's secretary and to filter his calls. Hanson later worked solely with Epstein in his Albemarle Street office in London, which was separate from the NEMS office. Lennon later said, "On the business end he [Epstein] ripped us off on the Seltaeb thing." McCartney said years later, "He [Epstein] looked to his dad for business advice, and his dad knew how to run a furniture store in Liverpool."


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein asked chartered accountant James Trevor Isherwood to set up a company to collect Lennon and McCartney's PRS payments—called Lenmac—which he did on 12 May 1964. When he first visited Epstein's office, Isherwood was surprised to learn that Epstein took 25 per cent of the gross income, and not the 10 per cent that he believed most other managers received at that time. All of Epstein's expenses were deducted from his artists' gross income, including office rental, staff wages, travel, telephone costs, and entertaining expenses. Before his death, Epstein knew that the renegotiation of his management contract (up for renewal on 30 September 1967) would lower his management fee from 25 to 10 per cent, and that NEMS would no longer receive a share of the Beatles' performance fees, reducing its revenues still further.


title: Brian Epstein

text: The Beatles entered into a publishing agreement with Dick James Music (DJM), so James set up a company called Northern Songs. James and his financial partner and accountant, Charles Silver, would each receive 25 per cent of the shares. Lennon and McCartney received 20 per cent each, with Epstein receiving the remaining 10 per cent. The Beatles' PRS income increased rapidly, so Epstein asked Isherwood to devise a way of avoiding the tax that Lennon and McCartney would owe. Isherwood suggested a stock market flotation for Northern Songs. He also suggested to Epstein that during the flotation Lennon and McCartney should move to houses near Isherwood's own in Esher. Lennon, Harrison and Starr agreed, while Epstein and McCartney remained in London.


title: Brian Epstein

text: After settling in London in 1965, Epstein rented an office in Monmouth Street, and later bought the lease of the Saville Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. He promoted new works by writers such as Arnold Wesker in productions that occasionally fell foul of the Lord Chamberlain for including "obscene" content or nudity. In 1966 Epstein reinvented it as a music venue featuring various US acts. On 20 February 1967 Epstein sacked the manager of the theatre, Michael Bullock, for lowering the safety curtain the previous day shortly before the end of a Chuck Berry concert that Epstein was attending with Lennon and Starr. Two fans had climbed onto the stage to dance, the curtain came down, and they were pushed from the stage. Although Bullock had not given the order, he was held responsible.


title: Brian Epstein

text: In the wake of the Beatles' success Epstein was asked to appear on several music-based TV programmes in Britain. He also hosted a regular part of the US television show "Hullabaloo", filming his appearances in the UK.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Throughout Epstein's life he was known to be kind and caring to his family, friends of his family, and business colleagues. When Lennon married Cynthia Powell, on 23 August 1962, Epstein served as best man and paid for the couple's celebratory lunch afterwards. During Cynthia's pregnancy Epstein paid for a private room in a hospital and offered the Lennons the sole use of his flat at 36 Falkner Street, Liverpool, when they needed a home. He also agreed to be godfather to Lennon's son Julian.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein's homosexuality was not publicly known until some years after his death, although it had been an open secret among his friends and business associates.


title: Brian Epstein

text: While Epstein was in the British Army, he commissioned a tailor to make him an officer's uniform. He wore the uniform when cruising the bars of London, but was arrested one night at the Army and Navy Club in Piccadilly by the military police for impersonating an officer. Epstein managed to avoid a court martial by agreeing to see an army psychiatrist, who learned of Epstein's sexuality. After ten months he was discharged from the army on medical grounds for being "emotionally and mentally unfit". Epstein later stated that his first homosexual experience was when he returned to Liverpool after being discharged.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein spent a year studying acting at RADA, but dropped out shortly after his arrest for "persistent importuning" outside a men's public toilet in Swiss Cottage, London. Cottaging, as it was called, was one of the few public ways that gay and bisexual men could meet at the time, especially if they were closeted. When Epstein first saw the Beatles perform he noticed their stage attire first, saying, "They were rather scruffily dressed, in the nicest possible way, or I should say in the most attractive way—black leather jackets, jeans, long hair of course." McCartney said that when Epstein started to manage the Beatles they knew that he was homosexual but did not care, because he encouraged them professionally and offered them access to previously "off-limits" social circles.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Although the group, Lennon in particular, often made sarcastic comments about Epstein's homosexuality to friends and to Epstein personally, no one outside the group's inner circle was allowed to comment. Ian Sharp, one of Lennon's art-school friends, once made a sarcastic remark about Epstein, saying, "Which one of you [Beatles] does he fancy?" Sharp was sent a letter by Epstein's office within 48 hours that demanded a complete apology. Sharp apologised, but was then completely ostracised. McCartney sent him a letter directing him to have no contact with any of them in the future. Epstein went on holiday to places such as Amsterdam, Torremolinos and Barcelona or Manchester at weekends, as the attitude towards homosexuals there was more tolerant than in Liverpool, even though Liverpool did have several gay bars.


title: Brian Epstein

text: In his autobiography, Pete Best stated that Epstein drove them both to Blackpool one evening where Epstein expressed his "very fond admiration." Epstein then supposedly said, "Would you find it embarrassing if I ask you to stay in a hotel overnight?" Best replied that he was not interested, and the two never mentioned the incident again. There were reports of a brief sexual encounter between Lennon and Epstein during a four-day holiday in Barcelona in April 1963. Lennon always denied the rumours, telling "Playboy" in 1980: "Well, it was almost a love affair, but not quite. It was never consummated ... but we did have a pretty intense relationship." Lennon's first wife Cynthia also maintained that Lennon's relationship with Epstein was platonic. A fictionalised account of the Spanish holiday is featured in the 1991 film "The Hours and Times".


title: Brian Epstein

text: After the start of his management career, Epstein started taking stimulants, usually Preludin, which did not require a prescription at the time. Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr had also taken it since their days in Hamburg. Epstein explained his use of the drug as the only means of staying awake at night during numerous concert tours. In 1964, Peter Brown suspected that Epstein was taking too many pills, as he would often cough at parties, which Brown realised was Epstein's way of secretly putting pills into his mouth without anyone noticing. McCartney often met Epstein at late night clubs in London, and remembered that Epstein would often grind his jaws (possibly due to bruxism), once saying to him, "Ugghhh, the pills". Epstein also developed dependencies on the drug carbromal, a barbiturate-like sedative/hypnotic drug.


title: Brian Epstein

text: In 1964, after having been introduced to cannabis by Bob Dylan in New York, Epstein was observed by McCartney standing in front of a mirror, pointing at himself and repeatedly saying "Jew!", while laughing loudly, which McCartney found hilarious and "very liberating". Epstein later became heavily involved in the 1960s drug scene. During the four months when the Beatles' album "Sgt. Pepper" was being recorded, Epstein spent time on holiday, or at the Priory Clinic in Putney, where he tried unsuccessfully to curb his drug use. He left the Priory to attend the "Sgt. Pepper" launch party at his house on 24 Chapel Street, but returned to the Priory immediately after.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein added his name to an advertisement that appeared in "The Times" on 24 July 1967, which called for the legalisation of cannabis, the release of all prisoners imprisoned because of possession, and research into marijuana's medical uses. The advertisement was sponsored by a group called Soma and was signed by sixty-five people, including the Beatles, Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing, sixteen doctors, and two members of parliament. Epstein responded to questions about the advertisement by saying, "My opinion is that pot smoking is definitely less harmful than drinking alcohol. I am not addicted to either, but I have been very drunk and very 'high'." In June 1967, after McCartney had admitted to LSD use, Epstein defended him to the media, stating that he too had taken the drug.


title: Brian Epstein

text: In August 1965, the Beatles and Epstein visited Elvis Presley at his house in Perugia Way in Los Angeles, where Elvis's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, set up a roulette wheel and several packs of playing cards. Epstein immediately asked to play, as he was known for his love of gambling. McCartney frequently visited gambling clubs in London, such as Epstein's favourite club Curzon House, where he often ran into Epstein. He once saw Epstein put a Dunhill lighter worth £100 () on the table, then lose it during a game of cards. Epstein often lost thousands of pounds by playing baccarat or chemin de fer (the original version of baccarat when it was introduced in France), but would stay at Curzon House the whole evening, eating an expensive meal and drinking fine wines. The club never presented Epstein with a bill, as they knew he lost so much in the casino.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein attended a traditional shiva in Liverpool after his father died, having just come out of the Priory Clinic where he had been trying to cure his acute insomnia and addiction to amphetamines. A few days before his death he made his last visit to a Beatles recording session on 23 August 1967, at the Chappell Recording Studios on Maddox Street in Mayfair, London.


title: Brian Epstein

text: On 24 August, Epstein asked Peter Brown and Geoffrey Ellis down to Kingsley Hill for the bank holiday weekend. Approximately 50 miles (80 km) from his home in Chapel Street, Kingsley Hill was Epstein's country home in Warbleton, Sussex. After they arrived, Epstein decided to drive back to London alone because an expected group of friends he had invited failed to arrive, although they did turn up after Epstein left. Epstein phoned Brown at 5 p.m. the next day from his Chapel Street house in London. Brown thought that Epstein sounded "very groggy" and suggested he take a train back down to the nearest railway station, in Uckfield, instead of driving under the influence of Tuinal. Epstein replied that he would eat something, read his mail, and watch "Juke Box Jury" before phoning Brown to tell him which train to meet. He never called again.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein died of an overdose of Carbrital, a hypnotic preparation combining the barbiturate pentobarbital with the bromide carbromal, in his locked bedroom on 27 August 1967. He was discovered after his butler who, having been unable to rouse Epstein via his locked bedroom door, called Epstein's PA, Joanne Petersen. She attended and failing to rouse Epstein called his doctor who, along with the butler, broke down the door and found Epstein in his bed, appearing to be asleep, a book opened near his hand and some digestive biscuits on the nightstand. On realising he was deceased, staff swept the house for contraband and then called the police. Epstein was found on a single bed, dressed in pyjamas, with various correspondence spread over a second single bed. At the statutory inquest his death was officially ruled an accident, caused by a gradual buildup of Carbrital combined with alcohol in his system. It was revealed that he had taken six Carbrital pills to sleep, which was probably normal for him, but in combination with alcohol they reduced his tolerance.


title: Brian Epstein

text: The Beatles were on a retreat in Bangor in northern Wales at the time, with the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Epstein had previously agreed to travel to Bangor after the August Bank Holiday. The second of two shows by Jimi Hendrix at Epstein's Saville Theatre was cancelled on the evening of Epstein's death.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Peter Brown wrote in his memoir, "The Love You Make: An Insider's Story of the Beatles", that he had once found a suicide note written by Epstein and had spoken with him about it. According to Brown the note read in part, "This is all too much and I can't take it any more." Brown had also found a will in which Epstein left his house and money to his mother and his brother, with Brown also being named as a minor beneficiary. When confronted with the notes, Epstein told Brown that he would be grateful if Brown did not tell anyone, and that he was sorry he had made Brown worry. He explained that when he wrote the note and composed the will he had simply taken one pill too many, and that he had no intention of overdosing, promising to be more careful in the future. Brown later wrote that he wondered if he had done the right thing by not showing the note to Epstein's doctor, Norman Cowan, who would have stopped prescribing drugs. The coroner, Gavin Thurston, told the Westminster inquest that Epstein's death was caused by an overdose of Carbrital and ruled it as an accidental death. The pathologist, Dr Donald Teare, stated that Epstein had been taking bromide in the form of Carbrital for some time, and that the barbiturate level in Epstein's blood was a "low fatal level".


title: Brian Epstein

text: The Beatles did not attend Epstein's funeral, both to allow his family some privacy and to avoid attracting fans and the media. According to Geoffrey Ellis, chief executive of NEMS Enterprises, the day before the funeral George Harrison had given Nat Weiss, Epstein's good friend and confidant, a single flower (Ellis remembers it as a chrysanthemum) wrapped in a newspaper on behalf of all four Beatles, with instructions to place the flower on Brian's coffin as a final farewell. However, flowers are forbidden at Jewish funerals and burials. Weiss and Ellis discussed this dilemma while walking back to the grave, where they observed two men beginning to shovel dirt onto the casket. Ellis later wrote: "Nat, who himself was Jewish, cast the newspaper package unopened onto Brian's coffin, where it was swiftly covered by earth." Epstein was buried in section A grave H12, in the Long Lane Jewish Cemetery, Aintree, Liverpool. The service at the graveside was held by Rabbi Dr Norman Solomon, who said, disparagingly, that Epstein was "a symbol of the malaise of our generation". A few weeks later, on 17 October, all four Beatles attended a memorial service for Epstein at the New London Synagogue in St John's Wood (near Abbey Road Studios), which was officiated by Rabbi Louis Jacobs. The Bee Gees' 1968 song "In the Summer of His Years" was written and recorded as a tribute to Epstein.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein was upset that he was not honoured along with Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr when they received the MBE in 1965, though Harrison once said that the MBE stood for "Mister Brian Epstein"; The Beatles were among the earliest entrants into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but Epstein was not included in the Hall's "Non-Performers' Section" until 2014, and not without controversy as he was inducted alongside Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham who refused to attend, in part in protest at what he perceived as the indignity of a joint induction. Martin Lewis, previously Taylor's assistant, created the official Brian Epstein website, which included a petition that Epstein be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Lewis also organised the 1998 re-publication, in the United States, of Epstein's 1964 autobiography "A Cellarful of Noise".


title: Brian Epstein

text: McCartney summarised the importance of Epstein when he was interviewed in 1997 for a BBC documentary about Epstein, saying, "If anyone was the Fifth Beatle, it was Brian." In his 1970 "Rolling Stone" interview, Lennon commented that Epstein's death marked the beginning of the end for the group: "I knew that we were in trouble then ... I thought, 'We've fucking had it now.'" In 2006, Cynthia Lennon said: "I think Brian's one of the forgotten people. It's almost as if he's been written out of the [Beatles] story. I don't think they'd have got anywhere without Brian." The first contract between the Beatles and Epstein was auctioned in London in 2008, fetching £240,000.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein's influence on the Beatles and his complicated personal life continue to provoke controversy. In 2013 author Vivek Tiwary released the graphic novel "The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story". A film of the same name was scheduled for release in 2014, originally to be produced by Bruce Cohen and directed by Peyton Reed. Tiwary said about that project that the film would "be less a music bio and more of an inspirational human-interest story about an outsider". Tiwary and named co-producers Stuart Ford and Simon Cowell originally set the film for release in 2016, but in March 2016 it was announced that the project would be a television series.


title: Brian Epstein

text: Epstein was once asked about the future of the Beatles and their "fresh honesty" (as he put it), which the interviewer thought could be "corrupted by time". He replied by saying, "I think they will go in the reverse direction, and become more honest."


title: Brian Epstein

text: On 27 August 2022, the 55th anniversary of his death, a bronze statue of Brian Epstein was unveiled near the former site of his family's NEMS record shop in Liverpool. One of the statue's sculptors, Jane Robbins, is a cousin of Paul McCartney.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. The system extends throughout the contiguous United States and has routes in Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: The U.S. federal government first funded roadways through the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916, and began an effort to construct a national road grid with the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921. In 1926, the United States Numbered Highway System was established, creating the first national road numbering system for cross-country travel. The roads were still state-funded and maintained, however, and there was little in the way of national standards for road design. U.S. Highways could be anything from a two-lane country road to a major multi-lane freeway. After Dwight D. Eisenhower became president in 1953, his administration developed a proposal for an interstate highway system, eventually resulting in the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: Unlike the earlier U.S. Highway System, the Interstates were designed to be an all-freeway system, with nationally unified standards for construction and signage. While some older freeways were adopted into the system, most of the routes were completely new construction, greatly expanding the freeway network in the U.S. Especially in densely populated urban areas, these new freeways were often controversial as their building necessitated the destruction of many older, well-established neighborhoods; as a result of the many freeway revolts during the 1960s and 1970s, several planned Interstates were abandoned or re-routed to avoid urban cores.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: Construction of the original Interstate Highway System was proclaimed complete in 1992, despite deviations from the original 1956 plan and several stretches that did not fully conform with federal standards. The cost of construction of the Interstate Highway System was approximately $114 billion (equivalent to $ in ). The system has continued to expand and grow as additional federal funding has provided for new routes to be added, and the system will grow into the future.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: Though much of their construction was funded by the federal government, Interstate Highways are owned by the state in which they were built. All Interstates must meet specific standards, such as having controlled access, physical barriers or median strips between lanes of oncoming traffic, breakdown lanes, avoiding at-grade intersections, no traffic lights and complying with federal traffic sign specifications. Interstate Highways use a numbering scheme in which primary Interstates are assigned one- or two-digit numbers, and shorter routes which branch off of longer ones are assigned three-digit numbers where the last two digits match the parent route. The Interstate Highway System is partially financed through the Highway Trust Fund, which itself is funded by a federal fuel tax. Though federal legislation initially banned the collection of tolls, some Interstate routes are toll roads, either because they were grandfathered into the system or because subsequent legislation has allowed for tolling of Interstates in some cases.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: , about one-quarter of all vehicle miles driven in the country used the Interstate Highway System, which had a total length of .


title: Interstate Highway System

text: The United States government's efforts to construct a national network of highways began on an "ad hoc" basis with the passage of the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916, which provided $75 million over a five-year period for matching funds to the states for the construction and improvement of highways. The nation's revenue needs associated with World War I prevented any significant implementation of this policy, which expired in 1921.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: In December 1918, E. J. Mehren, a civil engineer and the editor of "Engineering News-Record", presented his "A Suggested National Highway Policy and Plan" during a gathering of the State Highway Officials and Highway Industries Association at the Congress Hotel in Chicago. In the plan, Mehren proposed a system, consisting of five east–west routes and 10 north–south routes. The system would include two percent of all roads and would pass through every state at a cost of , providing commercial as well as military transport benefits.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: In 1919, the U.S. Army sent an expedition across the U.S. to determine the difficulties that military vehicles would have on a cross-country trip. Leaving from the Ellipse near the White House on July 7, the Motor Transport Corps convoy needed 62 days to drive on the Lincoln Highway to the Presidio army base on San Francisco Bay. The convoy suffered many setbacks and problems on the route, such as poor-quality bridges, broken crankshafts, and engines clogged with desert sand.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: Dwight Eisenhower, then a 28-year-old brevet lieutenant colonel, accompanied the trip "through darkest America with truck and tank," as he later described it. Some roads in the West were a "succession of dust, ruts, pits, and holes."


title: Interstate Highway System

text: As the landmark 1916 law expired, new legislation was passed—the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 (Phipps Act). This new road construction initiative once again provided for federal matching funds for road construction and improvement, $75 million allocated annually. Moreover, this new legislation for the first time sought to target these funds to the construction of a national road grid of interconnected "primary highways", setting up cooperation among the various state highway planning boards.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: The Bureau of Public Roads asked the Army to provide a list of roads that it considered necessary for national defense. In 1922, General John J. Pershing, former head of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during the war, complied by submitting a detailed network of of interconnected primary highways—the so-called Pershing Map.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: A boom in road construction followed throughout the decade of the 1920s, with such projects as the New York parkway system constructed as part of a new national highway system. As automobile traffic increased, planners saw a need for such an interconnected national system to supplement the existing, largely non-freeway, United States Numbered Highways system. By the late 1930s, planning had expanded to a system of new superhighways.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave Thomas MacDonald, chief at the Bureau of Public Roads, a hand-drawn map of the United States marked with eight superhighway corridors for study. In 1939, Bureau of Public Roads Division of Information chief Herbert S. Fairbank wrote a report called "Toll Roads and Free Roads", "the first formal description of what became the Interstate Highway System" and, in 1944, the similarly themed "Interregional Highways".


title: Interstate Highway System

text: The Interstate Highway System gained a champion in President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was influenced by his experiences as a young Army officer crossing the country in the 1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy that drove in part on the Lincoln Highway, the first road across America. He recalled that, "The old convoy had started me thinking about good two-lane highways... the wisdom of broader ribbons across our land." Eisenhower also gained an appreciation of the Reichsautobahn system, the first "national" implementation of modern Germany's Autobahn network, as a necessary component of a national defense system while he was serving as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II. In 1954, Eisenhower appointed General Lucius D. Clay to head a committee charged with proposing an interstate highway system plan. Summing up motivations for the construction of such a system, Clay stated,


title: Interstate Highway System

text: Clay's committee proposed a 10-year, $100 billion program, which would build of divided highways linking all American cities with a population of greater than 50,000. Eisenhower initially preferred a system consisting of toll roads, but Clay convinced Eisenhower that toll roads were not feasible outside of the highly populated coastal regions. In February 1955, Eisenhower forwarded Clay's proposal to Congress. The bill quickly won approval in the Senate, but House Democrats objected to the use of public bonds as the means to finance construction. Eisenhower and the House Democrats agreed to instead finance the system through the Highway Trust Fund, which itself would be funded by a gasoline tax. In June 1956, Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 into law. Under the act, the federal government would pay for 90 percent of the cost of construction of Interstate Highways. Each Interstate Highway was required to be a freeway with at least four lanes and no at-grade crossings.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: The publication in 1955 of the "General Location of National System of Interstate Highways", informally known as the "Yellow Book", mapped out what became the Interstate Highway System. Assisting in the planning was Charles Erwin Wilson, who was still head of General Motors when President Eisenhower selected him as Secretary of Defense in January 1953.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: Some sections of highways that became part of the Interstate Highway System actually began construction earlier.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: Three states have claimed the title of first Interstate Highway. Missouri claims that the first three contracts under the new program were signed in Missouri on August 2, 1956. The first contract signed was for upgrading a section of US Route 66 to what is now designated Interstate 44. On August 13, 1956, work began on US 40 (now I-70) in St. Charles County.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: Kansas claims that it was the first to start paving after the act was signed. Preliminary construction had taken place before the act was signed, and paving started September 26, 1956. The state marked its portion of I-70 as the first project in the United States completed under the provisions of the new Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: The Pennsylvania Turnpike could also be considered one of the first Interstate Highways, and is nicknamed "Grandfather of the Interstate System". On October 1, 1940, of the highway now designated I‑70 and I‑76 opened between Irwin and Carlisle. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania refers to the turnpike as the Granddaddy of the Pikes (referring to turnpikes).


title: Interstate Highway System

text: The initial cost estimate for the system was $25 billion over 12 years; it ended up costing $114 billion (equivalent to $425 billion in 2006 or $ in ) and took 35 years.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: The system was proclaimed complete in 1992, but two of the original Interstates—I-95 and I-70—were not continuous: both of these discontinuities were due to local opposition, which blocked efforts to build the necessary connections to fully complete the system. I-95 was made a continuous freeway in 2018, and thus I-70 remains the only original Interstate with a discontinuity.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: I-95 was discontinuous in New Jersey because of the cancellation of the Somerset Freeway. This situation was remedied when the construction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project started in 2010 and partially opened on September 22, 2018, which was already enough to fill the gap.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: However, I-70 remains discontinuous in Pennsylvania, because of the lack of a direct interchange with the Pennsylvania Turnpike at the eastern end of the concurrency near Breezewood. Traveling in either direction, I-70 traffic must exit the freeway and use a short stretch of US-30 (which includes a number of roadside services) to rejoin I-70. The interchange was not originally built because of a legacy federal funding rule, since relaxed, which restricted the use of federal funds to improve roads financed with tolls. Solutions have been proposed to eliminate the discontinuity, but they have been blocked by local opposition, fearing a loss of business.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: The Interstate Highway System has been expanded numerous times. The expansions have both created new designations and extended existing designations. For example, I-49, added to the system in the 1980s as a freeway in Louisiana, was designated as an expansion corridor, and FHWA approved the expanded route north from Lafayette, Louisiana, to Kansas City, Missouri. The freeway exists today as separate completed segments, with segments under construction or in the planning phase between them.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: In 1966, the FHWA designated the entire Interstate Highway System as part of the larger Pan-American Highway System, and at least two proposed Interstate expansions were initiated to help trade with Canada and Mexico spurred by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Long-term plans for I-69, which currently exists in several separate completed segments (the largest of which are in Indiana and Texas), is to have the highway route extend from Tamaulipas, Mexico to Ontario, Canada. The planned I-11 will then bridge the Interstate gap between Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada, and thus form part of the CANAMEX Corridor (along with I-19, and portions of I-10 and I-15) between Sonora, Mexico and Alberta, Canada.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: Political opposition from residents canceled many freeway projects around the United States, including:


title: Interstate Highway System

text: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has defined a set of standards that all new Interstates must meet unless a waiver from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is obtained. One almost absolute standard is the controlled access nature of the roads. With few exceptions, traffic lights (and cross traffic in general) are limited to toll booths and ramp meters (metered flow control for lane merging during rush hour).


title: Interstate Highway System

text: Being freeways, Interstate Highways usually have the highest speed limits in a given area. Speed limits are determined by individual states. From 1975 to 1986, the maximum speed limit on any highway in the United States was , in accordance with federal law.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: Typically, lower limits are established in Northeastern and coastal states, while higher speed limits are established in inland states west of the Mississippi River. For example, the maximum speed limit is in northern Maine, varies between from southern Maine to New Jersey, and is in New York City and the District of Columbia. Currently, rural speed limits elsewhere generally range from . Several portions of various highways such as I-10 and I-20 in rural western Texas, I-80 in Nevada between Fernley and Winnemucca (except around Lovelock) and portions of I-15, I-70, I-80, and I-84 in Utah have a speed limit of . Other Interstates in Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming also have the same high speed limits.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: In some areas, speed limits on Interstates can be significantly lower in areas where they traverse significantly hazardous areas. The maximum speed limit on I-90 is in downtown Cleveland because of two sharp curves with a suggested limit of in a heavily congested area; I-70 through Wheeling, West Virginia, has a maximum speed limit of through the Wheeling Tunnel and most of downtown Wheeling; and I-68 has a maximum speed limit of through Cumberland, Maryland, because of multiple hazards including sharp curves and narrow lanes through the city. In some locations, low speed limits are the result of lawsuits and resident demands; after holding up the completion of I-35E in St. Paul, Minnesota, for nearly 30 years in the courts, residents along the stretch of the freeway from the southern city limit to downtown successfully lobbied for a speed limit in addition to a prohibition on any vehicle weighing more than gross vehicle weight. I-93 in Franconia Notch State Park in northern New Hampshire has a speed limit of because it is a parkway that consists of only one lane per side of the highway. On the other hand, Interstates 15, 80, 84, and 215 in Utah have speed limits as high as within the Wasatch Front, Cedar City, and St. George areas, and I-25 in New Mexico within the Santa Fe and Las Vegas areas along with I-20 in Texas along Odessa and Midland and I-29 in North Dakota along the Grand Forks area have higher speed limits of .


title: Interstate Highway System

text: As one of the components of the National Highway System, Interstate Highways improve the mobility of military troops to and from airports, seaports, rail terminals, and other military bases. Interstate Highways also connect to other roads that are a part of the Strategic Highway Network, a system of roads identified as critical to the U.S. Department of Defense.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: The system has also been used to facilitate evacuations in the face of hurricanes and other natural disasters. An option for maximizing traffic throughput on a highway is to reverse the flow of traffic on one side of a divider so that all lanes become outbound lanes. This procedure, known as contraflow lane reversal, has been employed several times for hurricane evacuations. After public outcry regarding the inefficiency of evacuating from southern Louisiana prior to Hurricane Georges' landfall in September 1998, government officials looked towards contraflow to improve evacuation times. In Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, in 1999, lanes of I-16 and I-26 were used in a contraflow configuration in anticipation of Hurricane Floyd with mixed results.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: In 2004 contraflow was employed ahead of Hurricane Charley in the Tampa, Florida area and on the Gulf Coast before the landfall of Hurricane Ivan; however, evacuation times there were no better than previous evacuation operations. Engineers began to apply lessons learned from the analysis of prior contraflow operations, including limiting exits, removing troopers (to keep traffic flowing instead of having drivers stop for directions), and improving the dissemination of public information. As a result, the 2005 evacuation of New Orleans, Louisiana, prior to Hurricane Katrina ran much more smoothly.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: According to urban legend, early regulations required that one out of every five miles of the Interstate Highway System must be built straight and flat, so as to be usable by aircraft during times of war. There is no evidence of this rule being included in any Interstate legislation.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: The numbering scheme for the Interstate Highway System was developed in 1957 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The association's present numbering policy dates back to August 10, 1973. Within the contiguous United States, primary Interstates—also called main line Interstates or two-digit Interstates—are assigned numbers less than 100.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: While numerous exceptions do exist, there is a general scheme for numbering Interstates. Primary Interstates are assigned one- or two-digit numbers, while shorter routes (such as spurs, loops, and short connecting roads) are assigned three-digit numbers where the last two digits match the parent route (thus, I-294 is a loop that connects at both ends to I-94, while I-787 is a short spur route attached to I-87). In the numbering scheme for the primary routes, east–west highways are assigned even numbers and north–south highways are assigned odd numbers. Odd route numbers increase from west to east, and even-numbered routes increase from south to north (to avoid confusion with the U.S. Highways, which increase from east to west and north to south). This numbering system usually holds true even if the local direction of the route does not match the compass directions. Numbers divisible by five are intended to be major arteries among the primary routes, carrying traffic long distances. Primary north–south Interstates increase in number from I-5 between Canada and Mexico along the West Coast to I‑95 between Canada and Miami, Florida along the East Coast. Major west–east arterial Interstates increase in number from I-10 between Santa Monica, California, and Jacksonville, Florida, to I-90 between Seattle, Washington, and Boston, Massachusetts, with two exceptions. There are no I-50 and I-60, as routes with those numbers would likely pass through states that currently have U.S. Highways with the same numbers, which is generally disallowed under highway administration guidelines.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: Several two-digit numbers are shared between unconnected road segments at opposite ends of the country for various reasons. Some such highways are incomplete Interstates (such as I-69 and I-74) and some just happen to share route designations (such as I-76, I-84, I‑86, I-87, and I-88). Some of these were due to a change in the numbering system as a result of a new policy adopted in 1973. Previously, letter-suffixed numbers were used for long spurs off primary routes; for example, western I‑84 was I‑80N, as it went north from I‑80. The new policy stated, "No new divided numbers (such as I-35W and I-35E, etc.) shall be adopted." The new policy also recommended that existing divided numbers be eliminated as quickly as possible; however, an I-35W and I-35E still exist in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in Texas, and an I-35W and I-35E that run through Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, still exist. Additionally, due to Congressional requirements, three sections of I-69 in southern Texas will be divided into I-69W, I-69E, and I-69C (for Central).


title: Interstate Highway System

text: AASHTO policy allows dual numbering to provide continuity between major control points. This is referred to as a concurrency or overlap. For example, I‑75 and I‑85 share the same roadway in Atlanta; this section, called the Downtown Connector, is labeled both I‑75 and I‑85. Concurrencies between Interstate and U.S. Route numbers are also allowed in accordance with AASHTO policy, as long as the length of the concurrency is reasonable. In rare instances, two highway designations sharing the same roadway are signed as traveling in opposite directions; one such wrong-way concurrency is found between Wytheville and Fort Chiswell, Virginia, where I‑81 north and I‑77 south are equivalent (with that section of road traveling almost due east), as are I‑81 south and I‑77 north.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: Auxiliary Interstate Highways are circumferential, radial, or spur highways that principally serve urban areas. These types of Interstate Highways are given three-digit route numbers, which consist of a single digit prefixed to the two-digit number of its parent Interstate Highway. Spur routes deviate from their parent and do not return; these are given an odd first digit. Circumferential and radial loop routes return to the parent, and are given an even first digit. Unlike primary Interstates, three-digit Interstates are signed as either east–west or north–south, depending on the general orientation of the route, without regard to the route number. For instance, I-190 in Massachusetts is labeled north–south, while I-195 in New Jersey is labeled east–west. Some looped Interstate routes use inner–outer directions instead of compass directions, when the use of compass directions would create ambiguity. Due to the large number of these routes, auxiliary route numbers may be repeated in different states along the mainline. Some auxiliary highways do not follow these guidelines, however.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: The Interstate Highway System also extends to Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, even though they have no direct land connections to any other states or territories. However, their residents still pay federal fuel and tire taxes.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: The Interstates in Hawaii, all located on the most populous island of Oahu, carry the prefix H. There are three one-digit routes in the state (H-1, H-2, and H-3) and one auxiliary route (H-201). These Interstates connect several military and naval bases together, as well as the important communities spread across Oahu, and especially within the urban core of Honolulu.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: Both Alaska and Puerto Rico also have public highways that receive 90 percent of their funding from the Interstate Highway program. The Interstates of Alaska and Puerto Rico are numbered sequentially in order of funding without regard to the rules on odd and even numbers. They also carry the prefixes A and PR, respectively. However, these highways are signed according to their local designations, not their Interstate Highway numbers. Furthermore, these routes were neither planned according to nor constructed to the official Interstate Highway standards.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: On one- or two-digit Interstates, the mile marker numbering almost always begins at the southern or western state line. If an Interstate originates within a state, the numbering begins from the location where the road begins in the south or west. As with all guidelines for Interstate routes, however, numerous exceptions exist.


title: Interstate Highway System

text: Three-digit Interstates with an even first number that form a complete circumferential (circle) bypass around a city feature mile markers that are numbered in a clockwise direction, beginning just west of an Interstate that bisects the circumferential route near a south polar location. In other words, mile marker 1 on I-465, a route around Indianapolis, is just west of its junction with I-65 on the south side of Indianapolis (on the south leg of I-465), and mile marker 53 is just east of this same junction. An exception is I-495 in the Washington metropolitan area, with mileposts increasing counterclockwise because part of that road is also part of I-95.