title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Thor Odinson is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is based on the Norse mythological god of the same name, the Asgardian god of thunder whose enchanted hammer Mjolnir enables him to fly and manipulate weather, among his other superhuman attributes. A founding member of the superhero team the Avengers, Thor has a host of supporting characters and enemies.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books, the character first appeared in "Journey into Mystery" #83 (August 1962) and was created by artist Jack Kirby, writer Stan Lee, and scripter Larry Lieber. The character has starred in several ongoing series and limited series, and appears in all volumes of the Avengers series. The character has been used in Marvel Comics merchandise, animated television series, films, video games, clothing and toys.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Chris Hemsworth portrays the character in several Marvel Cinematic Universe films: "Thor" (2011), "The Avengers" (2012), "" (2013), "" (2015), "Doctor Strange" (2016, cameo), "" (2017), "" (2018), "" (2019), and "" (2022). Alternative versions of the character appear in the Disney+ series "What If...?" (2021).


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: The Marvel Comics superhero Thor debuted in the science fiction/fantasy anthology title "Journey into Mystery" #83 (cover-date August 1962), and was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciller-plotter Jack Kirby. A different version of the mythological Thor had appeared previously in "Venus" #12–13 (February–April 1951). Lee in 2002 described Thor's genesis early in the Marvel pantheon, following the creation of the Hulk:


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: In a 1984 interview Kirby said "I did a version of Thor for D.C. in the fifties before I did him for Marvel. I created Thor at Marvel because I was forever enamored of legends, which is why I knew about Balder, Heimdall, and Odin. I tried to update Thor and put him into a superhero costume, but he was still Thor." The story was included in "Tales of the Unexpected" #16, from 1957; and although the character had a different design, some details would be reused by Kirby when he created the Marvel Comics version. And in a 1992 interview, Kirby said "[I] knew the Thor legends very well, but I wanted to modernize them. I felt that might be a new thing for comics, taking the old legends and modernizing them."


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Subsequent stories of the 13-page feature "The Mighty Thor" continued to be plotted by Lee, and were variously scripted by Lieber or by Robert Bernstein, working under the pseudonym "R. Berns". Various artists penciled the feature, including Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, Don Heck, and Al Hartley. With "Journey into Mystery" #101 (Feb. 1964), the series began a long and definitive run by writer and co-plotter Lee and penciler and co-plotter Kirby that lasted until the by-then-retitled "Thor" #179 (Aug. 1970).


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Lee and Kirby included Thor in "The Avengers" #1 (Sept. 1963) as a founding member of the superhero team. The character has since appeared in every subsequent volume of the series.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: The five-page featurette "Tales of Asgard" was added in "Journey into Mystery" #97 (Oct. 1963), followed by "The Mighty Thor" becoming the dominant cover logo with issue #104 (May 1964). The feature itself expanded to 18 pages in #105, which eliminated the remaining anthological story from each issue; it was reduced to 16 pages five issues later. Comics historian Les Daniels noted that "the adventures of Thor were gradually transformed from stories about a strange-looking superhero into a spectacular saga." Artist Chic Stone, who inked several early Thor stories, observed that "Kirby could just lead you through all these different worlds. The readers would follow him anywhere."


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: "Journey into Mystery" was retitled "Thor" (per the indicia, or "The Mighty Thor" per most covers) with issue #126 (March 1966). "Tales of Asgard" was replaced by a five-page featurette starring the Inhumans from #146–152 (Nov. 1967–May 1968), after which featurettes were dropped and the Thor stories expanded to Marvel's then-standard 20-page length. Marvel filed for a trademark for "The Mighty Thor" in 1967 and the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued the registration in 1970.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: After Kirby left the title, Neal Adams penciled issues #180–181 (Sept.-Oct. 1970). John Buscema then became the regular artist the following issue. Buscema continued to draw the book almost without interruption until #278 (Dec. 1978). Lee stopped scripting soon after Kirby left, and during Buscema's long stint on the book, the stories were mostly written by Gerry Conway, Len Wein, or Roy Thomas. Thomas continued to write the title after Buscema's departure, working much of the time with the artist Keith Pollard; during this period Thomas integrated many elements of traditional Norse mythology into the title, with specific stories translated into comics form. Following Thomas's tenure, "Thor" had a changing creative team.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: In the mid-1970s, Marvel considered giving the character a second series as part of parent company Magazine Management's line of black-and-white comics magazines. A story written by Steve Englehart for the aborted project appeared in "Thor" Annual #5 (1976). A black-and-white Thor story appeared in "Marvel Preview" #10 (Winter 1977).


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Walt Simonson took over both writing and art as of #337 (Nov. 1983). His stories placed a greater emphasis on the character's mythological origins. Simonson's run as writer-artist lasted until #367 (May 1986), although he continued to write – and occasionally draw – the book until issue #382 (Aug. 1987). Simonson's run, which introduced the character Beta Ray Bill, was regarded as a popular and critical success. Simonson's later stories were drawn by Sal Buscema, who describes Simonson's stories as "very stimulating. It was a pleasure working on his plots, because they were a lot of fun to illustrate. He had a lot of great ideas, and he took "Thor" in a totally new direction." Asked why he was leaving "Thor", Simonson said that he felt the series was due for a change in creative direction, and that he wanted to reduce his work load for a time. After Simonson's departure, Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time, Tom DeFalco, became the writer. Working primarily with artist Ron Frenz, DeFalco stayed on the book until #459 (Feb. 1993).


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: The character of Thor was involved in the year-long "Marvel Super Heroes Secret War" storyline written by Jim Shooter from May 1984 to April 1985, following his mysterious disappearance in "The Mighty Thor" #341 and "The Mighty Avengers" #242.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: As a consequence of the "Heroes Reborn" crossover story arc of the 1990s, Thor was removed from mainstream Marvel continuity and with other Marvel characters re-imagined in an alternate universe for one year. The "Thor" title reverted to "Journey into Mystery" with issue #503 (Nov. 1996), and ran four different, sequential features ("The Lost Gods"; "Master of Kung Fu"; "Black Widow", and "Hannibal King") before ceasing publication with #521 (June 1998).


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: When the character was returned to the mainstream Marvel Universe, Thor was relaunched with "Thor" vol. 2, #1 (July 1998). As of issue #36, the title used dual numbering in a tribute to the original Thor series, and the caption box for said issue became #36 / #538 (June 2001). The title ran until issue #85 / #587, dated December 2004. Dan Jurgens wrote the first 79 issues, with Daniel Berman and Michael Avon Oeming completing the series.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: The third volume debuted as "Thor" #1 (Sept. 2007), initially written by J. Michael Straczynski and penciled by Olivier Coipel. Beginning with what would have been vol. 3, #13 (Jan. 2009), the third volume reverted to issue #600, reflecting the total number of published issues from all three volumes. Kieron Gillen took over from Straczynski in "Thor" #604 with artists Billy Tan, Richard Elson and Dougie Braithwaite, with his final storyline finishing in issue #614. Matt Fraction took over the series with issue #615, after having been announced as starting in "Thor" #610 and #611.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: To coincide with the "Thor" film, Marvel launched a number of new series starring the character in mid-2010. These included "Thor: The Mighty Avenger" by Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee, "Thor: First Thunder" by Bryan J. L. Glass and Tan Eng Huat, "Thor: For Asgard" by Robert Rodi and Simone Bianchi, and "Iron Man/Thor" by the writing duo of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: In April 2011, "Thor" once again reverted to its original title of "Journey into Mystery" with issue #622, reuniting writer Gillen and artist Braithwaite in a series of stories starring Thor's adopted brother, Loki. An ongoing series, titled "The Mighty Thor", launched the same month with writer Fraction and artist Coipel. The series ended with issue #22 in October 2012.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: In October 2012, Thor became a regular character in "Uncanny Avengers", beginning with issue #1. The following month, an ongoing series titled "Thor: God of Thunder" by writer Jason Aaron and artist Esad Ribić debuted as part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch. This story arc was voted as the eighth best Thor story by Comicbook.com.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: In October 2014, a fourth volume of "Thor" by Jason Aaron and artist Russell Dauterman debuted that featured a female character (later revealed to be Jane Foster) in the role of Thor after the classic hero is no longer able to wield Mjolnir. Aaron stated that "this is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. This is not Thorita. This is Thor. This is the Thor of the Marvel Universe. But it's unlike any Thor we've ever seen before." The following October, Aaron and Dauterman signed an exclusive agreement with Marvel to continue their work together in a second volume of "The Mighty Thor", also starring Foster.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: In July 2016, Marvel announced a new ongoing series titled "The Unworthy Thor" by Aaron and Coipel. The series follows the original Thor, who now refers to himself as Odinson, as he tries to find his purpose after relinquishing his name and title to Foster. Aaron stated that the series finds Odinson in a dark place explaining, "He failed for a reason we still don't quite understand. He dropped the hammer and hasn't been able to pick it up since. So then we go to a pretty dark place. A darker, more desperate, more driven version."


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: In January 2020, Thor volume #6 debuted, written by Donny Cates. This story follows Thor, as he becomes the new king of Asgard and tries to fulfill his duties as a king while fighting his destiny in an attempt to save the multiverse from an unknown threat.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Thor's father Odin decides his son needed to be taught humility and consequently incarnates Thor (without memories of godhood) on Earth as a mortal, partially disabled human medical student, Donald Blake. After becoming a doctor, Blake witnesses the arrival of an alien scouting party while he is on vacation in Norway. Blake flees from the aliens into a cave. After discovering Thor's hammer Mjolnir (disguised as a walking stick) and striking it against a rock, he transforms into the thunder god. Later, in "Thor" #159, Blake is revealed to have always been Thor, Odin's enchantment having caused him to forget his history as The Thunder God and believe himself mortal.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Defeating the aliens, Thor shares a double life with his alter ego: treating the ill in a private practice with nurse – and eventual love – Jane Foster, and defending humanity from evil. Thor's presence on Earth almost immediately attracts the attention of his adoptive brother and enemy Loki. Loki is responsible for the emergence of three of Thor's principal foes: the Absorbing Man; the Destroyer, and the Wrecker. On one occasion, Loki's tactics were accidentally beneficial – although successful in using an illusion of the Hulk to draw Thor into battle, it results in the formation of the superhero team the Avengers, of which Thor and Hulk, alongside Ant-Man, the Wasp and Iron Man, would be founding members. Thor's other early foes include Zarrko, the Tomorrow Man; the Radioactive Man; the Lava Man; the Cobra; Mister Hyde; the Enchantress and the Executioner, and the Grey Gargoyle.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Falling in love with Jane Foster, Thor disobeys his father and refuses to return to Asgard, an act for which he is punished on several occasions. Thor's natural affinity for Earth is eventually revealed to be due to the fact that he was the son of the Elder Goddess Gaea. Although Thor initially regards himself as a "superhero" like his teammates in the Avengers, Loki's machinations draw Thor into increasingly epic adventures, such as teaming with his father Odin and Asgardian ally Balder against the fire demon Surtur and Skagg the Storm Giant, and defeating an increasingly powerful Absorbing Man and proving his innocence in the "Trial of the Gods". This necessitates an extended leave of absence from the Avengers.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Thor encounters the Greek God Hercules, who becomes a loyal and trustworthy friend. Thor saves Hercules from fellow Olympian Pluto; stops the advance of Ego the Living Planet; rescues Jane Foster from the High Evolutionary and defeats his flawed creation, the Man-Beast. Odin finally relents and allows Thor to love Jane Foster, on the proviso she pass a trial. Foster panics and Thor intervenes. After Foster fails the test, Odin returns her to Earth, where she is given another chance at love, while a heartbroken Thor is introduced to the Asgardian warrior Sif. Thor battles the Asgardian troll Ulik for the first time when Ulik attempts to steal Mjolnir. The thunder god returns to Asgard to prevent Mangog from drawing the Odinsword and ending the universe, Thor learns the origin of Galactus and rescues Sif after she is kidnapped by Him.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Thor battles Surtur once again when the fire demon attempts to storm Asgard; encounters the Stranger and his pawn the Abomination; and overpowers an outmatched Doctor Doom.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: In the fall of 1972, writers Gerry Conway, Steve Englehart, and Len Wein crafted a metafictional unofficial crossover spanning titles from both major comics companies. Each comic featured Conway, Englehart, and Wein, as well as Wein's first wife Glynis, interacting with Marvel or DC characters at the Rutland Halloween Parade in Rutland, Vermont. Beginning in "Amazing Adventures" vol. 2 #16 (by Englehart with art by Bob Brown and Frank McLaughlin), the story continued in "Justice League of America" #103 (by Wein, Dick Dillin and Dick Giordano), and concluded in "Thor" #207 (by Conway and penciler John Buscema).


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Thor prevents another attempt by Mangog — disguised as Odin — from drawing the Odinsword; is saved by the intervention of ally Volstagg when the "Odin Force" became a semi-sentient destructive force; and is rescued from death when Odin engineers a false Ragnarök and has reporter Red Norvell die in his place battling the Midgard Serpent. Thor met the Eternals in a lengthy storyline. Thor also encounters the "Eye of Odin" (sacrificed by Odin to drink from the Well of Mimir) which claimed another Asgard and version of Thor once existed.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Thor eventually confronts the threat of the Celestial Fourth Host, and after an extended series of encounters learns of the apparent true origin of Asgard and Odin's plans to defend Earth from the alien judges. Despite the attempt by Odin to stop the Celestials by occupying the Destroyer armor (now 2,000 feet tall as holding the life essence of every Asgardian) and wielding the Odinsword (and aided by the Uni-Mind, an entity composed of the Eternals) and Thor himself, the aliens depart when presented with an offering by Gaea on behalf of the "Skymothers" (e.g. Frigga and Hera) of twelve perfect humans. Thor also learns Gaea was his birth mother.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: After restoring the Asgardian gods with a gathering of energies donated by Skyfathers from other pantheons, Thor has a series of adventures on Earth, including encountering two Heralds of Galactus in swift succession; stopping Mephisto from taking human souls; clearing his name when framed by Asgardian god of war Tyr; aiding Drax the Destroyer; with ally Iron Man defeating the Bi-Beast and the Man-Beast; engaging the former king of Nastrond Fafnir transformed by Odin into a dragon in combat when freed by Loki, and battling Dracula. Thor learns of the existence of the "God Eater", a creature summoned when the death gods of several pantheons temporarily merge their realms. Thor thwarts the creature – revealed to be in humanoid guise Atum, the son of Gaea, and therefore Thor's half-brother – and ensures the cosmic balance is restored.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: While exploring an approaching space vessel at the request of Nick Fury, Thor encounters Beta Ray Bill, who after a brief battle, proved himself worthy of lifting Thor's hammer Mjolnir. After initial misunderstandings, Bill forms an alliance with the Asgardian gods, and is empowered by Odin to aid Thor and his allies in a war with an approaching army of demons, which is revealed to be led by fire demon Surtur, now wielding "Twilight", the gigantic "Sword of Doom". After a series of extended battles – including a battle to the death with Fafnir and thwarting the Dark Elf Malekith — the gods are finally triumphant, although during combat Odin and Surtur disappear through a rift and are presumed dead.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Thor remains in Asgard to deal with the vacuum left by Odin's apparent death, and drives off Hela; meets Tiwaz, his great-grandfather; forces Loki to cure him from the effects of a love potion; with allies enters Hela's realm and rescues lost mortal souls. Returning to Earth, Thor and Beta Ray Bill defeat the transformed Dark Elf Kurse, although Loki uses the power of Surtur's discarded sword to change Thor into a frog. After an adventure in Central Park, Thor manages to partially restore himself and then forces Loki to reverse the spell. While rescuing X-Factor member the Angel from torture by the mercenary team the Marauders, Thor is cursed by Hela, who makes his bones as brittle as glass and unable to heal if damaged; and renders him truly immortal and unable to die no matter how severe his injuries. Thor is injured again during a battle with the Absorbing Man engineered by Loki, and is ultimately saved by Loki during a battle with the Dark Elves.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Eventually forced to wear armor to protect his broken body, Thor and Loki defeat a group of Ice Giants, who seek revenge by trying to locate the Midgard Serpent, hoping it would kill the thunder god. The Giants instead find the dragon Fin Fang Foom, who is revealed to be the Midgard Serpent in disguise. Time slows as the pair – mortal enemies due to prophecy that stated they would kill each other during Ragnarök — battle to the death. Thor kills the Serpent, although his body is completely pulverized. Loki restores the Destroyer, who kills the Ice Giants and finds Thor's now liquid form. The Destroyer attempts to disintegrate the thunder god but can not do so due to Hela's curse. Thor assumes mental control of the Destroyer, and forces Hela on pain of death to restore his true form. The thunder god then breaks Loki's arm as punishment for his actions. Thor meets and battles Leir, the Celtic god of lightning. After another encounter with the Celestials on an alien world; Thor finds Odin — a captive of Seth — and uses the Odinpower to fend off a returning Surtur; and defeats Annihilus while Asgard is in the Negative Zone. Thor battles X-Men foe the Juggernaut and meets the New Warriors.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: After Thor kills Loki in single combat, Heimdall – standing in for Odin temporarily as ruler of Asgard – banishes Thor from Asgard; he is replaced by the mortal Eric Masterson, who became the hero Thunderstrike. When Odin awakes, Thor is forgiven and returned. During a battle Thor is driven into a "warrior's madness" by a Valkyrie. After overpowering everyone who attempts to stop his rampage, Thor is brought by the Eternal and Thanos before Odin, who cures his son of the madness.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Thor, together with the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and other heroes, is trapped in an alternate universe after defeating the villain Onslaught. The heroes live alternate lives for a year in what is revealed to be an artificial creation until returning to their own universe. Thor and several members of the Avengers battle the Destroyer. Thor is saved by an enigmatic being called Marnot, who binds the life-force of a mortal called Jake Olson to the thunder god. Thor enters into a war with the Dark Gods with Marnot revealed to be Hescamer, one of Odin's ravens; and battles the returning Enchanters Three.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Thor faces a prolonged struggle against Thanos when he seeks to remake the universe. When Odin dies in battle against Surtur, Thor becomes ruler of Asgard. The thunder god extends his rule to Earth, with major repercussions. Thor and the Asgardians slay or imprison those who oppose them, including a young religious mutant called Davis; Zarrko the Tomorrow Man; Perrikus of the Dark Gods; the U.S. Government, and even his fellow Avengers. Thor marries Amora (the Enchantress), and has a son, Magni, who upon reaching adulthood doubts his father's judgment. Wracked with guilt, Thor is drawn into battle with his former ally Tarene and the Destroyer (occupied by former foe Desak), and reverses these events via time travel.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: When the timeline is reset, Loki revives Surtur, who forges new Uru hammers for Loki's Storm Giant followers and begins Ragnarök. Thor learns that Ragnarok was the result of the self-styled "gods to the gods" known as Those Who Sit Above in Shadow, who feed on the cycle. Thor confronts the Norns (Fates) and severs the tapestry of Asgard's existence. After breaking the Ragnarok cycle and being advised by the Odinforce that this was his father's plan, Thor enters into hibernation. With his fate unknown to the Avengers, he is believed to be missing in action.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Thor's hammer Mjolnir is eventually found on Earth and put under United States Army protection. When the supervillain Doctor Doom escapes from Hell, Mjolnir falls through the dimensional plane, and Doom tries unsuccessfully to lift the hammer. Mjolnir then comes into the possession of a man carrying a bag with the initials "D.B". Donald Blake, upon touching the hammer Mjolnir, is transported to the void of non-existence in which Thor resides. Blake explains that when Odin originally removed the Blake persona from Thor, Blake was consigned to the void that Thor now inhabited. With Odin's death, Blake was suddenly restored into being in New York City. Blake convinces Thor to wield Mjolnir once more, return to Earth, and renew the dual identity with Blake. Blake also reveals that Thor's fellow Asgardians still live in the minds and hearts of mortals, and only needed to be found and released. Thor rebuilds Asgard over Broxton, Oklahoma, and learns of the events that occurred during the 2006–2007 "Civil War" storyline, in which the U.S. government passed the Superhuman Registration Act, requiring all persons with superhuman abilities to register with the government or be subject to imprisonment. The superhero community was split over this law, which led to conflict between the two sides. Furthermore, Iron Man, who became the de facto leader and public face of the pro-registration forces, hunted and imprisoned their mutual former comrades who had joined the anti-registration side, led by Captain America. Iron Man and others also used Thor's DNA to create a clone of him to serve him in this campaign, for which Thor is greatly angered. When Iron Man confronts Thor over the latter's bringing Asgard to Oklahoma, and tells him that he himself must register with the government, Thor easily dispatches Iron Man, and tells him that anyone who attempts to approach Asgard uninvited will be dealt with mercilessly. As a compromise to keep the U.S. government from losing face, Iron Man suggests that since Asgard hovers above the ground, it can be regarded as diplomatic embassy or mission separate from the United States and not bound by the Registration Act. Though Thor accepts this, his and Captain America's animosity toward Stark would persist until the conclusion of the 2010–2011 "Avengers Prime" miniseries. Thor searches for his fellow Asgardians, and restores each of them, with the exception of Sif, who had been trapped in the body of an old woman dying of cancer, her real form stolen by Loki. Thor locates Odin in a limbo between life and death, waging constant battle with Surtur. Odin advises his son that Thor must lead the Asgardians.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: During the 2008 "Secret Invasion" storyline, Thor rescues and heals Beta Ray Bill, who after being temporarily given Mjolnir, aids Thor in defending Earth against an invading force of alien Skrulls. Due to Loki's deception, Thor battles and kills his grandfather Bor, and is banished from Asgard. With Thor's hammer Mjolnir damaged in that battle, Thor seeks out Doctor Strange, who is only able to repair the hammer by transferring the Odinforce from Thor to Mjolnir, binding the two in a symbiotic relationship. With the repaired hammer, Thor is able to draw out the imprisoned Sif and return her to her own body, thereby restoring Loki to his male body in the process.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: During the events of the 2010 "Siege" storyline, Thor defends Asgard against an invasion by Norman Osborn and his Dark Avengers. Although the invasion force is ultimately defeated, Asgard itself is toppled by the Sentry, who also kills Loki. Thor then kills the Sentry. Subsequently, the Superhuman Registration Act is repealed and Thor joins the rebranded Avengers, who had come to his aid during the battle. The next day Balder lifts Thor's exile and appoints Thor as his adviser. Immediately after the fall of Asgard, Thor, Captain America and Iron Man are transported to the Norse realm of Hel, where they battle against Hela, after which Thor and Captain America's friendship with Iron Man is renewed.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Thor aids Amadeus Cho in a quest to find the necessary ingredients to bring back their mutual friend Hercules from a parallel universe. During the 2010 - 2011 "Chaos War" storyline, Thor joins Hercules' God Squad to battle the Chaos King, who is set on destroying all of existence. With Asgard in ruins on Earth, the nine worlds are left undefended and are invaded by a force known as "The World Eaters". Seeking counsel on the matter, Thor restores his father Odin and his brother Loki, whom Thor had missed since his death.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: During the 2011 "Fear Itself" storyline, Sin frees Odin's long-forgotten brother, Cul, a God of Fear known also as the Serpent, from his underwater prison. Once free, The Serpent dispatches his generals known as the Worthy, each armed with magical uru hammers of their own, to descend the Earth into a state of fear. Although Thor and the Avengers manage to defeat the Serpent and his followers, Thor dies from the injuries he sustains during the battle. At Thor's funeral, Thor and other people's memories of him are replaced by Ulik under the guise of Tanarus, a new thunder god. Thor returns from the limbo of forgotten dead gods with the help of Loki and the Silver Surfer, and vanquishes Ulik.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: During the 2012 "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, Thor leads the Secret Avengers into deep space to battle the Phoenix Force, but is defeated. He is later captured and taken prisoner by the phoenix-empowered duo of Colossus and Magik. Following the war, Captain America selects Thor to join the Avengers Unity Squad, a new team of Avengers composed of both classic Avengers and X-Men. Thor then investigates the disappearances of several gods, and defeats Gorr the God Butcher in a story arc that spans several millennia.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Following the murder of Uatu and the revelation of his many secrets during the 2014 "Original Sin" storyline, Thor learns that Angela is the daughter of Odin and that she was thought to have been killed during Asgard's war with the Angels of the Tenth Realm. In response, Odin severed the Tenth Realm from the other nine realms and removed all memory of its existence. Thor confronts Frigga about these events and travels to the Tenth Realm with Loki to learn more about his "sister." Later, Nick Fury whispers an unrevealed secret to Thor that causes him to lose the ability to pick up his hammer.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: In the aftermath of the "Original Sin" storyline, Thor takes up the battle axe Jarnbjorn as a substitute for Mjolnir and subsequently loses his left arm in combat against Malekith the Accursed. Thor previously used Jarnbjorn as his regular weapon beginning in the ninth century after unable unsuccessful attempts to lift Mjolnir . Composed of Asgardian Steel, Jarnbjorn and Thor fought many foes on Earth, including frost giants, trolls and dragons. However, during the 11th Century, Thor faced off with the Celestial-powered being called Apocalypse and lost. Seeking revenge, Thor blessed Jarnbjorn with his own blood, giving it the power to pierce Celestial armor.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Meanwhile, an unidentified woman, later revealed as Jane Foster, lifts Mjolnir, taking possession of Thor's power. Although Thor initially attempts to reclaim the hammer, he relinquishes the name and role of Thor after witnessing the woman wield its power. Thor Odinson continues his work as a superhero under the name "Odinson", using Jarnbjorn and a prosthetic arm made of black uru.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: In the 2016 limited series "The Unworthy Thor", Odinson learns that Ultimate Thor's hammer has crash landed on Asgard following the "Secret Wars" storyline. Odinson ultimately turns down the opportunity to lift it and reveals to Beta Ray Bill that the words Nick Fury whispered to him were "Gorr was right," explaining that no god is worthy of mortal admiration. After this, an unknown individual, later revealed as Volstagg, picks up Ultimate Thor's hammer and calls himself "War Thor."


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: During the 2017 "Secret Empire" storyline, Odinson is recruited by Steve Rogers — who is under the influence of Kobik, the sentient Cosmic Cube — into joining Hydra, but later sides with the resistance in their efforts to end Hydra's control over the United States.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: After Odinson learns that Mjolnir's new wielder is Jane Foster, Jane sacrifices Mjolnir to destroy Mangog by wrapping Mangog in chains tied to Mjolnir before hurling both into the sun. After Odinson works with his father to bring Jane back to life, she restarts her chemotherapy while inspiring Odinson to return to his old name, suggesting that he see what kind of Thor he can be without a hammer after witnessing her accomplishments with one. As a result, Thor returns to a variant of his more familiar look with a golden arm, using various substitute hammers until the dwarves can gather enough uru to forge a true new Mjolnir. During the 2019 "War of the Realms" storyline, Thor sacrifices one eye and the last remaining fragment of Mjolnir to gain the necessary knowledge to defeat Malekith, but subsequently manages to channel the cosmic storm generated by their final battle to reforge Mjolnir, restoring his ability to wield the hammer by accepting his past unworthiness and proclaiming that he will now fight for the unworthy.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Following the "War of the Realms" storyline, Odin names Thor the new King of Asgard in a new ongoing series by writer Donny Cates and artist Nic Klein. Along with the new title, Thor receives a new costume with black body armor, black boots, and a glowing white sash in the form of a Thurisaz rune. In the series, an injured Galactus crash lands on Asgard and claims to be seeking asylum from the cause of his universe's destruction: the Black Winter (Fimbulwinter). Galactus reveals to All-Father Thor that he had a vision of Thor being responsible for his death. In a bid to destroy the Black Winter, Galactus turns Thor into his Herald of Thunder, who will find five particular worlds that Galactus must consume to gain the power to oppose the Black Winter. The transformation into a Herald also restores Thor's lost eye and arm. Thor later learns that the Black Winter considers Galactus as his herald. Outraged at being used, Thor drains Galactus of his energies, leaving him a decimated husk. When the Black Winter moves in to claim Galactus' body, Thor used it as a bomb to decimate the Black Winter.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Prior to the battle with Galactus, Thor had noticed that Mjolnir had been growing heavier for him. After the battle, he sends Mjolnir to Broxton, Oklahoma, where Asgard was once built and later on destroyed. There, a man named Adam Aziz visits the crash site first. He notices that "Call Tony Stark" is written, along with his phone number (which was Thor's revenge for the "Nice throw" Iron Man had previously written on Thor's Hammer), and calls Tony. When Iron Man comes, both him and Adam see that writing on Mjolnir has changed to "Pick it up". Adam picks up the hammer, and his clothes change to more Asgardian like, with a cape and a helmet. Thor soon comes to Broxton, and takes Mjolnir from Adam, but Iron Man snatches it, refusing to return it to Thor until he had run some tests on the hammer and until Thor had answered some questions. Thor replies that he does not answer to anyone, to which Iron Man hit Thor on the face with the hammer. Thor threatens Iron Man, who promptly gives the hammer back. Thor explains to Iron Man that while the hammer has been growing heavier for him, it has been becoming lighter for others. Iron Man promises that he will not tell anyone and goes. Thor goes to Asgard after briefly teaching Adam how to fly using Mjolnir.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: In the 2020 "Avengers" "Enter the Phoenix" story-arc, it is alluded that Thor is the son of a mutant avatar of the Phoenix Force known as Lady Phoenix, who had an affair with Odin 1,000,000 years prior at the dawn of man. However, in a later story in Thor's own comic book, he once again drew upon powers over the Earth inherited by Gaea, as had repeatedly been established earlier, so the veracity of these claims remain very uncertain.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Like all Asgardians, Thor is incredibly long-lived and relies upon periodic consumption of the Golden Apples of Idunn to sustain his extended lifespan, which to date has lasted many millennia. Being the son of Odin and the elder goddess Gaea, Thor is physically the strongest of the Asgardians. Thor is capable of incredible feats of strength, such as lifting the almost Earth-sized Midgard Serpent, supporting a weight equivalent to that of 20 planets, destroying Surtur's solar system-sized dimensional portal (by combining his power with that of Beta Ray Bill), and allegedly overpowering infinite gravity. By exerting himself to his maximum, he moved the Worldengine, which held the World Tree, which contains nine universal space-time continuums, and significantly affected their timelines. If pressed in battle, Thor is capable of entering into a state known as the "Warrior's Madness" ("berserkergang" in Norwegian and Danish alike), which will temporarily increase his strength and stamina tenfold, although in this state he attacks friend and foe alike.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Thor is extremely durable to physical injuries. He has even survived energy blasts from Celestials. Thor possesses keen senses that allow him to track objects travelling faster than light and hear cries from the other side of the planet. His stamina allowed him to battle the entire Frost Giant army for nine months without any sustenance or rest; Thor has shown the ability to regenerate wounded portions of his body, including entire limbs or organs, with the aid of magical forces such as Mjolnir. Thor has superhuman speed, agility, and reflexes, enabling him to deflect bullets with his hammer, and to swing or throw it at many times the speed of light. In early stories, Thor demonstrated vortex breath, which produces powerful winds. Like all Asgardians, he has immunity to all Earthly diseases and is resistant to magic. Exceptionally powerful magic can overwhelm Odin's enchantment that transforms him between Asgardian and mortal forms.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: As the Norse god of thunder, Thor can summon the elements of the storm (lightning, rain, wind, snow) and uses Mjolnir as a tool to focus this ability, although the hammer cannot command artificial weather, only natural. He can cause these weather effects over the world and destroy entire buildings; by whirling his hammer he can lift entire buildings with the wind. Thor can also create small tornadoes by quickly whipping his cape in circles. As the son of the Earth goddess Gaea, Thor has shown control over the Earth.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: Thor is a superb hand-to-hand combatant, and is skilled in armed combat, excelling in the use of the war hammer, sword, axe and mace. Thor possesses two items which assist him in combat: the enchanted Belt of Strength, and his signature weapon, the mystical hammer Mjolnir. The first item doubles Thor's strength and endurance whereas the second is used to control his weather abilities; flight; energy projection and absorption (sufficient to drain the galaxy-destroying Null Bomb, and use its energy to reignite a dying star); dimensional travel; matter manipulation, the Thermo-blast, the Anti-Force (which counteracts another force), and the "God Blast", that taps into Thor's life force and has even forced Galactus to flee. Using Mjolnir by throwing it in the desired direction and then holding on to the handle's leather loop, Thor can fly at supersonic speeds within Earth's atmosphere and much faster than light in outer space. He can also use the hammer to create a barrier by letting it spin in a circle, and even managed to contain an explosion powerful enough to destroy 1/5th of the Universe, although at the cost of his own life. He can throw an object out of Earth's atmosphere by using his strength, and throw his hammer to Asgard from which it will return.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: When Thor has to transport companions and/or objects to a destination by himself, he has a chariot drawn by two huge mystical goats called Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder that can fly nearly anywhere he desires almost as easily as with Mjolnir.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: The hammer also accidentally endowed the hero Union Jack with the ability to generate electricity, and it can remove any harmful radiation or toxins from a host.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: As a former religious relic, Mjolnir is also lethal to the undead, causing creatures such as vampires to burst into flame and crumble to dust.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: When in possession of the "Odinforce" that usually empowers his father, Thor has proven capable of killing Galactus when the latter is very well fed and far beyond his normal power level.


title: Thor (Marvel Comics)

text: The character was first portrayed in live action by Eric Allan Kramer in the 1988 television movie "The Incredible Hulk Returns". Chris Hemsworth portrays Thor Odinson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films "Thor" (2011), "The Avengers" (2012), "" (2013), "" (2015), "Doctor Strange" (2016) in a cameo, "" (2017), "" (2018), "" (2019) and "" (2022). Additionally, archival footage of Hemsworth as Thor was used in the 2013 episodes "Pilot" and "The Well" of "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Thor appears as an outfit in "Fortnite Battle Royale" Chapter 2's Season Four Battle Pass.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: The Beverly Hillbillies is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family from the hills of the Ozarks, who move to posh Beverly Hills, California, after striking oil on their land. The show was produced by Filmways and was created by Paul Henning. It was followed by two other Henning-inspired "country cousin" series on CBS: "Petticoat Junction" and its spin-off "Green Acres", which reversed the rags-to-riches, country-to-city model of "The Beverly Hillbillies".


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: "The Beverly Hillbillies" ranked among the top 20 most-watched programs on television for eight of its nine seasons, ranking as the No. 1 series of the year during its first two seasons, with 16 episodes that still remain among the 100 most-watched television episodes in American history. It accumulated seven Emmy nominations during its run. It remains in syndicated reruns, and its ongoing popularity spawned a 1993 film adaptation by 20th Century Fox.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: The series starts with Jed Clampett, an impoverished and widowed hillbilly living alongside an oil-rich swamp with his daughter and mother-in-law. The start of each episode shows Jed discovering oil while shooting at a rabbit. However, in the first episode the oil is discovered by a surveyor for the OK Oil Company who realizes the size of the oil field, and the company pays him a fortune for the right to drill on his land. Patriarch Jed's cousin Pearl Bodine prods him to move to California after being told his modest property could yield millions of dollars, and pressures him into taking her son Jethro along. The family moves into a mansion in wealthy Beverly Hills, California, next door to Jed's banker, Milburn Drysdale, and his wife, Margaret, who has zero tolerance for hillbillies.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: The Clampetts bring a moral, unsophisticated, and minimalistic lifestyle to the swanky, sometimes self-obsessed and superficial community. Double entendres and cultural misconceptions are the core of the sitcom's humor. Plots often involve Drysdale's outlandish efforts to keep the Clampetts' money in his bank, and his wife's efforts to rid the neighborhood of "those hillbillies". The family's periodic attempts to return to the mountains are often prompted by Granny's perceiving a slight from one of the "city folk".


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Jed Clampett (portrayed by Buddy Ebsen), has little formal education and is completely naïve about the world outside the area where he lives, but has a great deal of wisdom and common sense. His forebears are revealed in series 1 episode 25 that his family came to America before the "Mayflower" arrived. However he later denies this to keep Mrs. Drysdale happy. He is the widower of Granny's daughter, Rose Ellen (though Buddy Ebsen was only 5 years Irene Ryan's junior). He is the son of Luke Clampett and his wife, and has a sister called Myrtle. In episode 13 it is revealed that his grandfather was 98 when he married his grandmother who was 18. Jed is a good-natured man and the head of the family. In a very early episode Jed tells Elly May that she is the spitting image of her mother. The huge oil pool in the swamp he owned was the beginning of his rags-to-riches journey to Beverly Hills. He is usually the straight man to Granny and Jethro's antics. His catchphrase is, "Welllllll, doggies!" Jed was one of the three characters to appear in all 274 episodes of the series.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Daisy May Moses (portrayed by Irene Ryan in all 274 episodes), called "Granny" by all, is Jed's mother-in-law, so is often called "Granny Clampett" in spite of her last name, and despite the fact that in the pilot episode Milburn Drysdale refers to her as Jed's mother. She is a descendant of the Moses clan who learnt her feuding when the Moses drove the Bodkins out of Napoleon, Tennessee. She has an abrasive personality and is quick to anger, but is often overruled by Jed. She is a devout Confederate and fancies herself a Baptist Christian ("dunked, not sprinkled") with forgiveness in her heart. A self-styled "M.D." ("mountain doctor"), Granny uses her "white lightning" brew as a form of anesthesia when commencing painful treatments such as leech bleeding and using pliers for teeth-pulling. Like the other Clampetts, she is known to take things literally, having thought Mrs. Drysdale had turned herself into a bird using black magic (astrology) and mistook an escaped kangaroo for a giant jackrabbit (but failed to convince anyone of its existence).


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Paul Henning discarded the idea of making Granny Jed's mother, which would have changed the show's dynamics, making Granny the matriarch and Jed her subordinate.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Elly May (portrayed by Donna Douglas in all 274 episodes), the only child of Jed and Rose Ellen Clampett, is a mountain beauty with the body of a pin-up girl and the soul of a tomboy. In a very early episode Jed tells Elly May that she is the spitting image of her mother. She can throw a fastball and "wrassle" most men to a fall, and she can be as tender with her friends, animals, and family as she is tough with anyone she wrassles. She says once that animals can be better companions than people, but as she grows older, she allows that, "fellas kin be more fun than critters." In addition to the family dog, Duke (an old Bloodhound), a number of pets live on the Clampett estate thanks to animal-lover Elly. In the 1981 TV movie, Elly May is the head of a zoo.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Elly is a terrible cook. Family members cringe whenever, for plot reasons, Elly takes over the kitchen.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Jethro (portrayed by Max Baer Jr. in 272 episodes) is the dim-witted son of Jed's cousin, Pearl Bodine (though he addresses Jed as "Uncle Jed", as Elly May addresses Pearl as "Aunt Pearl", a customary generational practice). Pearl's mother and Jed's father were siblings. He drives the Clampett family to their new home in California and stays on with them to further his education. In the first series he is in the fifth grade, having spent three years in the fourth grade and two years in the first grade. He went to Oxford school and this is confused with Oxford University. The others boast of Jethro's education, in later series it is referred to as his "sixth-grade education"; Jethro himself often speaks enthusiastically of his abilities in "cipherin'" (1 and 1 is 2, 2 and 2 is 4), and "gazintas" (4 gazinta 8 2 times, 3 gazinta 12 4 times). However, he is ignorant about nearly every aspect of modern California life. In one episode, he decides to go to college. He enrolls late in the semester at a local secretarial school and "earns" his diploma by the end of the day because he is so disruptive. This was an ironic in-joke – in real life, Max Baer Jr. has a bachelor's degree in business administration, minoring in philosophy, from Santa Clara University.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Many story lines involve Jethro's endless career search. He once deliberated over becoming a brain surgeon or a fry cook. His other ambitions included being a millwright, street car conductor, "double-naught" spy, telephone lineman, soda jerk, chauffeur, USAF general, sculptor, restaurant owner (with Granny's cooking), psychiatrist, and once as a bookkeeper for Milburn Drysdale's bank; an agent for "cousin" Bessie and "Cousin Roy" (see below); Hollywood producer (a studio flunky remarks Jethro has the "right qualifications" for being a producer: a sixth-grade education and an uncle who owns the studio; this in-joke gag as a movie producer was replayed in the 1981 movie). More often than not, his overall goal in these endeavors is to meet pretty girls. He only manages to gain (but is oblivious to) the affections of the plain Miss Jane Hathaway. Of all the Clampett clan, he is the most eager to embrace city life. A running gag is that Jethro is known as the "six-foot stomach" for his huge appetite; in one episode, he eats a jetliner's entire supply of steaks, and in another, Jethro tries to set himself up as a Hollywood agent for cousin "Bessie" the chimpanzee – with a fee of 10,000 bananas for Bessie and 1,000 for him. Jethro does not appear in the third- or second-to-last episodes, but Baer remains billed in the title credits.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Mr. Drysdale (portrayed by Raymond Bailey in 247 episodes) is the Clampetts' banker, confidant, and next-door neighbor. He is obsessed with money, and to keep the Clampetts' $96,000,000 (in 1969; ) in his Commerce Bank, Mr. Drysdale will do everything he can to cater to their every wish. He often forces others, especially his long-suffering secretary, to help fulfill their outlandish requests. He is a descendant of the Bodkins from Tennessee. It is revealed in the first series that Granny's clan, the Moses, feuded with the Bodkins and drove them from Napoleon, Tennessee.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Jane Hathaway (portrayed by Nancy Kulp in 246 episodes), whom the Clampetts address as "Miss Jane", is Drysdale's loyal, highly educated, and efficient secretary. Though she reluctantly carries out his wishes, she is genuinely fond of the family and tries to shield them from her boss's greed. Miss Hathaway frequently has to "rescue" Drysdale from his schemes, receiving little or no thanks for her efforts. The Clampetts consider her family; even Granny, the one most dead-set against living in California, likes her very much. Jane harbors something of a crush on Jethro for most of the series' run. In 1999, "TV Guide" ranked Jane Hathaway number 38 on its list titled "50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time".


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: The show's theme song, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett", was written by producer and writer Paul Henning and originally performed by bluegrass artists Foggy Mountain Boys, led by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. The song is sung by Jerry Scoggins (backed by Flatt and Scruggs) over the opening and end credits of each episode. Flatt and Scruggs subsequently cut their own version of the theme (with Flatt singing) for Columbia Records; released as a single, it reached number 44 on "Billboard" Hot 100 pop music chart and number one on the "Billboard" Hot Country chart (the lone country chart-topper for the duo).


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Perry Botkin Jr., who composed the score for "Murder by Contract", composed many songs for "The Beverly Hillbillies", e.g., "Elly May’s Theme". Botkin's upbeat tune from "Murder by Contract", played during scenes of sunny LA, signaled scenes at the Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: The six main cast members participated on a 1963 Columbia soundtrack album, which featured original song numbers in character. Additionally, Ebsen, Ryan, and Douglas each made a few solo recordings following the show's success, including Ryan's 1966 novelty single, "Granny's Miniskirt".


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: The series generally features no country music beyond the bluegrass banjo theme song, although country star Roy Clark and the team of Flatt and Scruggs occasionally play on the program. Pop singer Pat Boone appears in one episode as himself, under the premise that he hails from the same area of the country as the Clampetts, although Boone is a native of Jacksonville, Florida.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: The 1989 film "UHF" featured a "Weird Al" Yankovic parody music video, "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*", combining "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" and English rock band Dire Straits' 1985 hit song "Money for Nothing".


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: "The Beverly Hillbillies" received generally poor reviews from contemporary critics. "The New York Times" called the show "strained and unfunny"; "Variety" called it "painful to sit through". Film professor Janet Staiger writes that "the problem for these reviewers was that the show confronted the cultural elite's notions of quality entertainment." The show did receive a somewhat favorable review from noted critic Gilbert Seldes in the December 15, 1962 "TV Guide": "The whole notion on which "The Beverly Hillbillies" is founded is an encouragement to ignorance... But it "is" funny. What can I do?"


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Regardless of the poor reviews, the show shot to the top of the Nielsen ratings shortly after its premiere and stayed there for several seasons. During its first two seasons, it was the number-one program in the U.S; during its second season, it earned some of the highest ratings ever recorded for a half-hour sitcom. The season-two episode "The Giant Jackrabbit" also became the most-watched telecast up to the time of its airing, and remains the most-watched half-hour episode of a sitcom, as well. The series enjoyed excellent ratings throughout its run, although it had fallen out of the top 20 most-watched shows during its final season.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: In 1997, the season-three episode "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood" was ranked number 62 on ""TV Guide"s 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time".


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: The show was canceled in the spring of 1971 after 274 episodes. The CBS network, prompted by pressure from advertisers seeking a more sophisticated urban audience, decided to refocus its schedule on new urban-themed shows and, to make room for them, the two remaining series of CBS's rural-themed comedies were cancelled. This action came to be known as "the Rural Purge". Pat Buttram, who played Mr. Haney on "Green Acres", famously remarked, "It was the year CBS cancelled everything with a tree – including Lassie."


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: In 1981, "Return of the Beverly Hillbillies" television film, written and produced by series creator Henning, was aired on the CBS network. Irene Ryan had died in 1973, and Raymond Bailey had died in 1980. The script acknowledged Granny's passing, but featured Imogene Coca as Granny's mother. Max Baer decided against reprising the role that both started and stymied his career, so the character of Jethro Bodine was given to another actor, Ray Young.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: The film's plot had Jed back in his old homestead in Bugtussle, having divided his massive fortune among Elly May and Jethro, both of whom stayed on the West Coast. Jane Hathaway had become a Department of Energy agent and was seeking Granny's "White Lightnin'" recipe to combat the energy crisis. Since Granny had gone on to "her re-ward", it was up to Granny's centenarian "Maw" (Imogene Coca) to divulge the secret brew's ingredients. Subplots included Jethro playing an egocentric, starlet-starved Hollywood producer, Jane and her boss (Werner Klemperer) having a romance, and Elly May owning a large petting zoo. The four main characters finally got together by the end of the story.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Having been filmed a mere decade after the final episode of the original series, viewer consensus was that the series' original spirit was lost to the film on many fronts, chief of which being the deaths of Ryan and Bailey and Baer's absence, which left only three of the six original cast members available to reprise their respective roles. Further subtracting from the familiarity was the fact that the legendary Clampett mansion (the Sumner Spaulding-designed Chartwell Mansion) – was unavailable for a location shoot as the owners' lease was too expensive. Henning himself admitted sheer embarrassment when the finished product aired, blaming his inability to rewrite the script due to the 1981 Writers Guild of America strike.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: In 1993, Ebsen, Douglas, and Baer reunited onscreen for the only time in the CBS-TV retrospective television special, "The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies", which ranked as the fourth-most watched television program of the week—a major surprise given the mediocre rating for the 1981 television film. It was a rare tribute from the "Tiffany network", which owed much of its success in the 1960s to the series, but has often seemed embarrassed by it in hindsight, often downplaying the show in retrospective television specials on the network's history and rarely inviting cast members to participate in such all-star broadcasts.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: "The Legend of The Beverly Hillbillies" special ignored several plot twists of the television film, notably Jethro was now not a film director, but a leading Los Angeles physician. Critter-loving Elly May was still in California with her animals, but Jed was back home in the Hills, having lost his fortune, stolen by the now-imprisoned banker Drysdale. Nancy Kulp had died in 1991 and was little referred to beyond the multitude of film clips that dotted the special. The special was released on VHS tape by CBS/Fox Video in 1995 and as a bonus feature on the Official Third Season DVD Set in 2009.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: In 1974, CBS made a reportedly large cash payment settlement to employee Hamilton Morgen after Morgen sued the network. Morgen claimed CBS appropriated his submitted ideas and script for a show called "Country Cousins" to form "The Beverly Hillbillies".


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: "The Beverly Hillbillies" is still televised daily around the world in syndication. In the United States, the show is broadcast currently on MeTV, Circle, Classic Reruns TV, GAC Family and Laff and was previously on TBS Superstation, Nick at Nite, TV Land, Hallmark Channel, and Superstation WGN. A limited number of episodes from the earlier portions of the series run have turned up in the public domain and as such are seen occasionally on many smaller networks such as Retro TV and MyFamily TV.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: The show is distributed by CBS Media Ventures, the syndication arm of CBS Television Studios and the CBS network. It was previously distributed by CBS Films, Viacom Enterprises, Paramount Domestic Television, and CBS Paramount Domestic Television (all through corporate changes involving TV distribution rights to the early CBS library). The repeats of the show that debuted on CBS Daytime on September 5–9, 1966, as "Mornin' Beverly Hillbillies" through September 10, 1971 and on September 13–17, 1971 as "The Beverly Hillbillies" lasted up to winter 1971–72. It aired at 11:00–11:30 am Eastern/10:00-10:30 am Central through September 3, 1971, then moved to 10:30–11:00 am Eastern/9:30–10:00 am Central for the last season on CBS Daytime.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Fifty-five episodes of the series are in the public domain (all 36 season-one episodes and 19 season-two episodes), because Orion Television, successor to Filmways, neglected to renew their copyrights. As a result, these episodes have been released on home video and DVD on many low-budget labels and shown on low-power television stations and low-budget networks in prints. In many video prints of the public domain episodes, the original theme music has been replaced by generic music due to copyright issues.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Before his death, Paul Henning, whose estate now holds the original film elements to the public domain episodes, authorized MPI Home Video to release the best of the first two seasons on DVD, the first "ultimate collection" of which was released in the fall of 2005. These collections include the original, uncut versions of the first season's episodes, complete with their original theme music and opening sponsor plugs. Volume 1 has, among its bonus features, the alternate, unaired version of the pilot film, "The Hillbillies Of Beverly Hills" (the version of the episode that sold the series to CBS), and the "cast commercials" (cast members pitching the products of the show's sponsors) originally shown at the end of each episode. The alternate version is also the version seen on Amazon Prime Video.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: With the exception of the public domain episodes, the copyrights to the series were renewed by Orion Television. However, any new compilation of "Hillbillies" material will be copyrighted by either MPI Media Group or CBS, depending on the content of the material used.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: For many years, 20th Century Fox, through a joint venture with CBS called CBS/Fox Video, released select episodes of "Hillbillies" on videocassette. After Viacom merged with CBS in 1999, Paramount Home Entertainment (the video division of Paramount Pictures, which was acquired by Viacom in 1994) took over the video rights.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: In 2006, Paramount announced plans to release the copyrighted episodes in boxed sets through CBS DVD later that year. The show's second season (consisting of the public domain episodes from that season) was released on DVD in Region 1 on October 7, 2008, as "...The Official Second Season". The third season was released on February 17, 2009. Both seasons are available to be purchased together from major online retailers. On October 1, 2013, season four was released on DVD as a Walmart exclusive. It was released as a full retail release on April 15, 2014. On April 26, 2016, CBS/Paramount released the complete first season on DVD. The fifth season was released on October 2, 2018.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: With so much work that has to be done to remaster the seasons, and a limited public appeal after 60 years, future remastered, unedited DVD releases are in doubt.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: "The Deadly Hillbillies," an interactive murder mystery, was written by John R. Logue using the core cast of characters as inspiration. This Gypsy Productions Murder Mystery Parody features characters such as Jed Clumpett, Daisy May Mostes, and Jane Hatchaway.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Dell Comics adapted the series into a comic book series in 1962. The art work was provided by Henry Scarpelli. The comic ran for 18 issues, ending in August 1967.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: In 1993, a film version of "The Beverly Hillbillies" was released starring Jim Varney as Jed Clampett and featuring Buddy Ebsen in a cameo as Barnaby Jones, the lead character in his long-running post-"Hillbillies" television series.


title: The Beverly Hillbillies

text: Based on "The Beverly Hillbillies" movie, a PC computer adventure game for operating system MS-DOS was developed by Synergistic Software, Inc. and published in 1993 by Capstone Software.


title: Bonnie Bedelia

text: Bonnie Bedelia Culkin (born ) is an American actress. After beginning her career in theatre in the 1960s, Bedelia starred in the CBS daytime soap opera "Love of Life" and made her film debut in "The Gypsy Moths". Bedelia subsequently appeared in the films "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?", "Lovers and Other Strangers", "Heart Like a Wheel", "The Prince of Pennsylvania", "Die Hard", "Die Hard 2", "Presumed Innocent", and "Needful Things".


title: Bonnie Bedelia

text: For her television work, Bedelia has earned two Emmy Awards nominations. From 2001 to 2004, Bedelia played the lead role in the Lifetime television drama series "The Division". She later starred as family matriarch Camille Braverman in the NBC drama series "Parenthood" (2010–2015).


title: Bonnie Bedelia

text: Bedelia was born in the Manhattan borough of New York City, the daughter of Marian Ethel (née Wagner), a writer and editor, and Philip Harley Culkin, who was in public relations and 50 years old at the time. She was born in a difficult financial period when her father's firm went bankrupt, and they lived in "a cold-water tenement flat". Her mother died when she was 14 and her father, "who had always had ulcers", died shortly afterward. She has two brothers, one of whom is actor Kit Culkin, and a sister, Candice Culkin. She is the aunt of actors Macaulay, Kieran, and Rory Culkin.


title: Bonnie Bedelia

text: Bedelia studied dance in her youth, at School of American Ballet. She received her acting training at HB Studio.


title: Bonnie Bedelia

text: Before becoming an actress, Bedelia studied ballet and appeared in a few productions with the New York City Ballet, including "The Nutcracker". Her only dancing role onscreen was that of Clara in the "Playhouse 90" television production of the George Balanchine "Nutcracker" (1958). From 1961 to 1967, Bedelia was a regular on the CBS soap opera "Love of Life", portraying Sandy Porter. She also worked on Broadway, where she debuted supporting Patty Duke in 1962, in "Isle of Children", and won a Theatre World Award for playing the lead of in "My Sweet Charlie", in 1966.


title: Bonnie Bedelia

text: Bedelia made her film debut in "The Gypsy Moths" in 1969; later that year she attracted attention as the pregnant marathon dancer in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" She starred in the comedy "Lovers and Other Strangers" (1970), had dramatic roles in "The Strange Vengeance of Rosalie" (1972) and "Between Friends" (1973), and appeared opposite Richard Dreyfuss in the comedy" The Big Fix" (1978). On television she played the leading role in the short-lived ABC drama series, "The New Land" (1974).


title: Bonnie Bedelia

text: In 1984, Bedelia received critical acclaim and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her starring role in "Heart Like a Wheel" (1983), as drag racer Shirley Muldowney. Other well-known performances include her portrayals of Holly Gennero McClane, the wife of Bruce Willis's character John McClane in "Die Hard" (1988) and "Die Hard 2" (1990), and of Barbara Sabich, the wife of Harrison Ford's character in "Presumed Innocent" (1990).


title: Bonnie Bedelia

text: Bedelia appeared in two Stephen King screen adaptations: "Salem's Lot" (1979) and "Needful Things" (1993). She was nominated for Emmy Awards for her performance in the Showtime anthology series "Fallen Angels" (1993) and for the leading role in the made-for-television movie "Locked in Silence" (1999). She played a number of leading roles in television films and miniseries, such as "Switched at Birth", "", "Her Costly Affair", and "Picnic". From 2001 to 2004, Bedelia starred as Capt. Kate McCafferty in the Lifetime television drama series "The Division". She later guest-starred in "Big Love" and "", and starred opposite Rue McClanahan and Olivia Newton-John in the 2008 sitcom "".


title: Bonnie Bedelia

text: Bedelia starred in the NBC drama series "Parenthood" (2010-2015) as the family matriarch, Camille Braverman.


title: Bonnie Bedelia

text: In 2017, she appeared in season 2 of the TV series "Designated Survivor", and in two Hallmark movies. In 2019, she guest starred on the Netflix series "What/If."


title: Bonnie Bedelia

text: Bedelia married scriptwriter Ken Luber on April 24, 1969. Before divorcing in 1980, the couple had two sons, Uri (b. 1970) and Jonah (b. 1976). She was also married briefly to musician and screenwriter Jay Telfer and then wed actor Michael MacRae in 1995.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It was also the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its opening, with a main span of and a deck above mean high water. The span was originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge or the East River Bridge but was officially renamed the Brooklyn Bridge in 1915.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: Proposals for a bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn were first made in the early 19th century, which eventually led to the construction of the current span, designed by John A. Roebling. The project's chief engineer, his son Washington Roebling, contributed further design work, assisted by the latter's wife, Emily Warren Roebling. Construction started in 1870, with the Tammany Hall-controlled New York Bridge Company overseeing construction, although numerous controversies and the novelty of the design prolonged the project over thirteen years. Since opening, the Brooklyn Bridge has undergone several reconfigurations, having carried horse-drawn vehicles and elevated railway lines until 1950. To alleviate increasing traffic flows, additional bridges and tunnels were built across the East River. Following gradual deterioration, the Brooklyn Bridge has been renovated several times, including in the 1950s, 1980s, and 2010s.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The Brooklyn Bridge is the southernmost of the four toll-free vehicular bridges connecting Manhattan Island and Long Island, with the Manhattan Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge, and the Queensboro Bridge to the north. Only passenger vehicles and pedestrian and bicycle traffic are permitted. A major tourist attraction since its opening, the Brooklyn Bridge has become an icon of New York City. Over the years, the bridge has been used as the location of various stunts and performances, as well as several crimes and attacks. The Brooklyn Bridge has been designated a National Historic Landmark, a New York City landmark, and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The Brooklyn Bridge, an early example of a steel-wire suspension bridge, uses a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge design, with both vertical and diagonal suspender cables. Its stone towers are neo-Gothic, with characteristic pointed arches. The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT), which maintains the bridge, says that its original paint scheme was "Brooklyn Bridge Tan" and "Silver", although a writer for "The New York Post" states that it was originally entirely "Rawlins Red".


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: To provide sufficient clearance for shipping in the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge incorporates long approach viaducts on either end to raise it from low ground on both shores. Including approaches, the Brooklyn Bridge is a total of long when measured between the curbs at Park Row in Manhattan and Sands Street in Brooklyn. A separate measurement of is sometimes given; this is the distance from the curb at Centre Street in Manhattan.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The main span between the two suspension towers is long and wide. The bridge "elongates and contracts between the extremes of temperature from 14 to 16 inches". Navigational clearance is above mean high water (MHW). A 1909 "Engineering Magazine" article said that, at the center of the span, the height above MHW could fluctuate by more than due to temperature and traffic loads, while more rigid spans had a lower maximum deflection.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The side spans, between each suspension tower and each side's suspension anchorages, are long. At the time of construction, engineers had not yet discovered the aerodynamics of bridge construction, and bridge designs were not tested in wind tunnels. It was coincidental that the open truss structure supporting the deck is, by its nature, subject to fewer aerodynamic problems. This is because John Roebling designed the Brooklyn Bridge's truss system to be six to eight times as strong as he thought it needed to be. However, due to a supplier's fraudulent substitution of inferior-quality cable in the initial construction, the bridge was reappraised at the time as being only four times as strong as necessary.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The main span and side spans are supported by a structure containing six trusses running parallel to the roadway, each of which is deep. The trusses allow the Brooklyn Bridge to hold a total load of , a design consideration from when it originally carried heavier elevated trains. These trusses are held up by suspender ropes, which hang downward from each of the four main cables. Crossbeams run between the trusses at the top, and diagonal and vertical stiffening beams run on the outside and inside of each roadway.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: An elevated pedestrian-only promenade runs in between the two roadways and above them. It typically runs below the level of the crossbeams, except at the areas surrounding each tower. Here, the promenade rises to just above the level of the crossbeams, connecting to a balcony that slightly overhangs the two roadways. The path is generally wide. The iron railings were produced by Janes & Kirtland, a Bronx iron foundry that also made the United States Capitol dome and the Bow Bridge in Central Park.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: Each of the side spans is reached by an approach ramp. The approach ramp from the Brooklyn side is shorter than the approach ramp from the Manhattan side. The approaches are supported by Renaissance-style arches made of masonry; the arch openings themselves were filled with brick walls, with small windows within. The approach ramp contains nine arch or iron-girder bridges across side streets in Manhattan and Brooklyn.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: Underneath the Manhattan approach, a series of brick slopes or "banks" was developed into a skate park, the Brooklyn Banks, in the late 1980s. The park uses the approach's support pillars as obstacles. In the mid-2010s, the Brooklyn Banks were closed to the public because the area was being used as a storage site during the bridge's renovation. The skateboarding community has attempted to save the banks on multiple occasions; after the city destroyed the smaller banks in the 2000s, the city government agreed to keep the larger banks for skateboarding. When the NYCDOT removed the bricks from the banks in 2020, skateboarders started an online petition.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The Brooklyn Bridge contains four main cables, which descend from the tops of the suspension towers and help support the deck. Two are located to the outside of the bridge's roadways, while two are in the median of the roadways. Each main cable measures in diameter and contains 5,282 parallel, galvanized steel wires wrapped closely together in a cylindrical shape. These wires are bundled in 19 individual strands, with 278 wires to a strand. This was the first use of bundling in a suspension bridge and took several months for workers to tie together. Since the 2000s, the main cables have also supported a series of 24-watt LED lighting fixtures, referred to as "necklace lights" due to their shape.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: In addition, 1,520 galvanized steel wire suspender cables hang downward from the main cables, and another 400 cable stays extend diagonally from the towers. These wires hold up the truss structure around the bridge deck.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: Each side of the bridge contains an anchorage for the main cables. The anchorages are trapezoidal limestone structures located slightly inland of the shore, measuring at the base and at the top. Each anchorage weighs . The Manhattan anchorage rests on a foundation of bedrock while the Brooklyn anchorage rests on clay.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The anchorages both have four anchor plates, one for each of the main cables, which are located near ground level and parallel to the ground. The anchor plates measure , with a thickness of and weigh each. Each anchor plate is connected to the respective main cable by two sets of nine eyebars, each of which is about long and up to thick. The chains of eyebars curve downward from the cables toward the anchor plates, and the eyebars vary in size depending on their position.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The anchorages also contain numerous passageways and compartments. Starting in 1876, in order to fund the bridge's maintenance, the New York City government made the large vaults under the bridge's Manhattan anchorage available for rent, and they were in constant use during the early 20th century. The vaults were used to store wine, as they were kept at a consistent temperature due to a lack of air circulation. The Manhattan vault was called the "Blue Grotto" because of a shrine to the Virgin Mary next to an opening at the entrance. The vaults were closed for public use in the late 1910s and 1920s during World War I and Prohibition but were reopened thereafter. When "New York" magazine visited one of the cellars in 1978, it discovered a "fading inscription" on a wall reading: "Who loveth not wine, women and song, he remaineth a fool his whole life long." Leaks found within the vault's spaces necessitated repairs during the late 1980s and early 1990s. By the late 1990s, the chambers were being used to store maintenance equipment.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The bridge's two suspension towers are tall with a footprint of at the high water line. They are built of limestone, granite, and Rosendale cement. The limestone was quarried at the Clark Quarry in Essex County, New York. The granite blocks were quarried and shaped on Vinalhaven Island, Maine, under a contract with the Bodwell Granite Company, and delivered from Maine to New York by schooner. The Manhattan tower contains of masonry, while the Brooklyn tower has of masonry.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: Each tower contains a pair of Gothic Revival pointed arches, through which the roadways run. The arch openings are tall and wide. The tops of the towers are located above the floor of each arch opening, while the floors of the openings are above mean water level, giving the towers a total height of above mean high water.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The towers rest on underwater caissons made of southern yellow pine. Both caissons contain interior spaces that were used by construction workers. The Manhattan side's caisson is slightly larger, measuring and located below high water, while the Brooklyn side's caisson measures and is located below high water. The caissons were designed to hold at least the weight of the towers which would exert a pressure of when fully built, but the caissons were over-engineered for safety. During an accident on the Brooklyn side, when air pressure was lost and the partially-built towers dropped full-force down, the caisson sustained an estimated pressure of with only minor damage. Most of the timber used in the bridge's construction, including in the caissons, came from mills at Gascoigne Bluff on St. Simons Island, Georgia.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The Brooklyn side's caisson, which was built first, originally had a height of and a ceiling composed of five layers of timber, each layer tall. Ten more layers of timber were later added atop the ceiling, and the entire caisson was wrapped in tin and wood for further protection against flooding. The thickness of the caisson's sides was at both the bottom and the top. The caisson had six chambers: two each for dredging, supply shafts, and airlocks.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The caisson on the Manhattan side was slightly different because it had to be installed at a greater depth. To protect against the increased air pressure at that depth, the Manhattan caisson had 22 layers of timber on its roof, seven more than its Brooklyn counterpart had. The Manhattan caisson also had fifty -diameter pipes for sand removal, a fireproof iron-boilerplate interior, and different airlocks and communication systems.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: Proposals for a bridge between the then-separate cities of Brooklyn and New York had been suggested as early as 1800. At the time, the only travel between the two cities was by a number of ferry lines. Engineers presented various designs, such as chain or link bridges, though these were never built because of the difficulties of constructing a high enough fixed-span bridge across the extremely busy East River. There were also proposals for tunnels under the East River, but these were considered prohibitively expensive. The current Brooklyn Bridge was conceived by German immigrant John Augustus Roebling in 1852. He had previously designed and constructed shorter suspension bridges, such as Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, and the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: In February 1867, the New York State Senate passed a bill that allowed the construction of a suspension bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Two months later, the New York and Brooklyn Bridge Company was incorporated with a board of directors (later converted to a board of trustees). There were twenty trustees in total: eight each appointed by the mayors of New York and Brooklyn, as well as the mayors of each city and the auditor and comptroller of Brooklyn. The company was tasked with constructing what was then known as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge. Alternatively, the span was just referred to as the "Brooklyn Bridge", a name originating in a January 25, 1867, letter to the editor sent to the "Brooklyn Daily Eagle." The act of incorporation, which became law on April 16, 1867, authorized the cities of New York (now Manhattan) and Brooklyn to subscribe to $5 million in capital stock, which would fund the bridge's construction.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: Roebling was subsequently named the main engineer of the work, and by September 1867, had presented a master plan. According to it, the bridge would be longer and taller than any suspension bridge previously built. It would incorporate roadways and elevated rail tracks, whose tolls and fares would provide the means to pay for the bridge's construction. It would also include a raised promenade that served as a leisurely pathway. The proposal received much acclaim in both cities, and residents predicted that the New York and Brooklyn Bridge's opening would have as much of an impact as the Suez Canal, the first transatlantic telegraph cable or the first transcontinental railroad. By early 1869, however, some individuals started to criticize the project, saying either that the bridge was too expensive, or that the construction process was too difficult.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: To allay concerns about the design of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, Roebling set up a "Bridge Party" in March 1869, where he invited engineers and members of U.S. Congress to see his other spans. Following the bridge party in April, Roebling and several engineers conducted final surveys. During the process, it was determined that the main span would have to be raised from above MHW, requiring several changes to the overall design. In June 1869, while conducting these surveys, Roebling sustained a crush injury to his foot when a ferry pinned it against a piling. After amputation of his crushed toes, he developed a tetanus infection that left him incapacitated and resulted in his death the following month. Washington Roebling, John Roebling's 32-year-old son, was then hired to fill his father's role. When the younger Roebling was hired, Tammany Hall leader William M. Tweed also became involved in the bridge's construction because, as a major landowner in New York City, he had an interest in the project's completion. The New York and Brooklyn Bridge Company—later known simply as the New York Bridge Company—was actually overseen by Tammany Hall, and it approved Roebling's plans and designated him as chief engineer of the project.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge began on January 2, 1870. The first work entailed the construction of two caissons, upon which the suspension towers would be built. The Brooklyn side's caisson was built at the Webb & Bell shipyard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and was launched into the river on March 19, 1870. Compressed air was pumped into the caisson, and workers entered the space to dig the sediment until it sank to the bedrock. As one sixteen-year-old from Ireland, Frank Harris, described the fearful experience:The six of us were working naked to the waist in the small iron chamber with the temperature of about 80 degrees Fahrenheit: In five minutes the sweat was pouring from us, and all the while we were standing in icy water that was only kept from rising by the terrific pressure. No wonder the headaches were blinding. Once the caisson had reached the desired depth, it was to be filled in with vertical brick piers and concrete. However, due to the unexpectedly high concentration of large boulders atop the riverbed, the Brooklyn caisson took several months to sink to the desired depth. Furthermore, in December 1870, its timber roof caught fire, delaying construction further. The "Great Blowout", as the fire was called, delayed construction for several months, since the holes in the caisson had to be repaired. On March 6, 1871, the repairs were finished, and the caisson had reached its final depth of ; it was filled with concrete five days later. Overall, about 264 individuals were estimated to have worked in the caisson every day, but because of high worker turnover, the final total was thought to be about 2,500 men in total. In spite of this, only a few workers were paralyzed. At its final depth, the caisson's air pressure was .


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The Manhattan side's caisson was the next structure to be built. To ensure that it would not catch fire like its counterpart had, the Manhattan caisson was lined with fireproof plate iron. It was launched from Webb & Bell's shipyard on May 11, 1871, and maneuvered into place that September. Due to the extreme underwater air pressure inside the much deeper Manhattan caisson, many workers became sick with "the bends"—decompression sickness—during this work, despite the incorporation of airlocks (which were believed to help with decompression sickness at the time). This condition was unknown at the time and was first called "caisson disease" by the project physician, Andrew Smith. Between January 25 and May 31, 1872, Smith treated 110 cases of decompression sickness, while three workers died from the disease. When iron probes underneath the Manhattan caisson found the bedrock to be even deeper than expected, Washington Roebling halted construction due to the increased risk of decompression sickness. After the Manhattan caisson reached a depth of with an air pressure of , Washington deemed the sandy subsoil overlying the bedrock beneath to be sufficiently firm, and subsequently infilled the caisson with concrete in July 1872.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: Washington Roebling himself suffered a paralyzing injury as a result of caisson disease shortly after ground was broken for the Brooklyn tower foundation. His debilitating condition left him unable to supervise the construction in person, so he designed the caissons and other equipment from his apartment, directing "the completion of the bridge through a telescope from his bedroom." His wife, Emily Warren Roebling, not only provided written communications between her husband and the engineers on site, but also understood mathematics, calculations of catenary curves, strengths of materials, bridge specifications, and the intricacies of cable construction. She spent the next 11 years helping supervise the bridge's construction, taking over much of the chief engineer's duties, including day-to-day supervision and project management.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: After the caissons were completed, piers were constructed on top of each of them upon which masonry towers would be built. The towers' construction was a complex process that took four years. Since the masonry blocks were heavy, the builders transported them to the base of the towers using a pulley system with a continuous -diameter steel wire rope, operated by steam engines at ground level. The blocks were then carried up on a timber track alongside each tower and maneuvered into the proper position using a derrick atop the towers. The blocks sometimes vibrated the ropes because of their weight, but only once did a block fall.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: Construction on the suspension towers started in mid-1872, and by the time work was halted for the winter in late 1872, parts of each tower had already been built. By mid-1873, there was substantial progress on the towers' construction. The Brooklyn side's tower had reached a height of above mean high water, while the tower on the Manhattan side had reached above MHW. The arches of the Brooklyn tower were completed by August 1874. The tower was substantially finished by December 1874 with the erection of saddle plates for the main cables at the top of the tower. However, the ornamentation on the Brooklyn tower could not be completed until the Manhattan tower was finished. The last stone on the Brooklyn tower was raised in June 1875 and the Manhattan tower was completed in July 1876. The saddle plates atop both towers were also raised in July 1876. The work was dangerous: by 1876, three workers had died having fallen from the towers, while nine other workers were killed in other accidents.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: In 1875, while the towers were being constructed, the project had depleted its original $5 million budget. Two bridge commissioners, one each from Brooklyn and Manhattan, petitioned New York state lawmakers to allot another $8 million for construction. Ultimately, the legislators passed a law authorizing the allotment with the condition that the cities would buy the stock of Brooklyn Bridge's private stockholders.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: Work proceeded concurrently on the anchorages on each side. The Brooklyn anchorage broke ground in January 1873 and was subsequently substantially completed in August 1875. The Manhattan anchorage was built in less time, having started in May 1875, it was mostly completed in July 1876. The anchorages could not be fully completed until the main cables were spun, at which point another would be added to the height of each anchorage.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The first temporary wire was stretched between the towers on August 15, 1876, using chrome steel provided by the Chrome Steel Company of Brooklyn. The wire was then stretched back across the river, and the two ends were spliced to form a traveler, a lengthy loop of wire connecting the towers, which was driven by a steam hoisting engine at ground level. The wire was one of two that were used to create a temporary footbridge for workers while cable spinning was ongoing. The next step was to send an engineer across the completed traveler wire in a boatswain's chair slung from the wire, to ensure it was safe enough. The bridge's master mechanic, E.F. Farrington, was selected for this task, and an estimated crowd of 10,000 people on both shores watched him cross. A second traveler wire was then stretched across the span, a task that was completed by August 30. The temporary footbridge, located some above the elevation of the future deck, was completed in February 1877.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: By December 1876, a steel contract for the permanent cables still had not been awarded. There was disagreement over whether the bridge's cables should use the as-yet-untested Bessemer steel or the well-proven crucible steel. Until a permanent contract was awarded, the builders ordered of wire in the interim, 10 tons each from three companies, including Washington Roebling's own steel mill in Brooklyn. In the end, it was decided to use number 8 Birmingham gauge (approximately 4 mm or 0.165 inches in diameter) crucible steel, and a request for bids was distributed, to which eight companies responded. In January 1877, a contract for crucible steel was awarded to J. Lloyd Haigh, who was associated with bridge trustee Abram Hewitt, whom Roebling distrusted.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: The spinning of the wires required the manufacture of large coils of it which were galvanized but not oiled when they left the factory. The coils were delivered to a yard near the Brooklyn anchorage. There they were dipped in linseed oil, hoisted to the top of the anchorage, dried out and spliced into a single wire, and finally coated with red zinc for further galvanizing. There were thirty-two drums at the anchorage yard, eight for each of the four main cables. Each drum had a capacity of of wire. The first experimental wire for the main cables was stretched between the towers on May 29, 1877, and spinning began two weeks later. All four main cables were being strung by that July. During that time, the temporary footbridge was unofficially opened to members of the public, who could receive a visitor's pass; by August 1877 several thousand visitors from around the world had used the footbridge. The visitor passes ceased that September after a visitor had an epileptic seizure and nearly fell off.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: As the wires were being spun, work also commenced on the demolition of buildings on either side of the river for the Brooklyn Bridge's approaches; this work was mostly complete by September 1877. The following month, initial contracts were awarded for the suspender wires, which would hang down from the main cables and support the deck. By May 1878, the main cables were more than two-thirds complete. However, the following month, one of the wires slipped, killing two people and injuring three others. In 1877, Hewitt wrote a letter urging against the use of Bessemer steel in the bridge's construction. Bids had been submitted for both crucible steel and Bessemer steel; John A. Roebling's Sons submitted the lowest bid for Bessemer steel, but at Hewitt's direction, the contract was awarded to Haigh.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: A subsequent investigation discovered that Haigh had substituted inferior quality wire in the cables. Of eighty rings of wire that were tested, only five met standards, and it was estimated that Haigh had earned $300,000 from the deception. At this point, it was too late to replace the cables that had already been constructed. Roebling determined that the poorer wire would leave the bridge only four times as strong as necessary, rather than six to eight times as strong. The inferior-quality wire was allowed to remain and 150 extra wires were added to each cable. To avoid public controversy, Haigh was not fired, but instead was required to personally pay for higher-quality wire. The contract for the remaining wire was awarded to the John A. Roebling's Sons, and by October 5, 1878, the last of the main cables' wires went over the river.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: After the suspender wires had been placed, workers began erecting steel crossbeams to support the roadway as part of the bridge's overall superstructure. Construction on the bridge's superstructure started in March 1879, but, as with the cables, the trustees initially disagreed on whether the steel superstructure should be made of Bessemer or crucible steel. That July, the trustees decided to award a contract for of Bessemer steel to the Edgemoor (or Edge Moor) Iron Works, based in Philadelphia, to be delivered by 1880. The trustees later passed another resolution for another of Bessemer steel. However, by February 1880 the steel deliveries had not started. That October, the bridge trustees questioned Edgemoor's president about the delay in steel deliveries. Despite Edgemoor's assurances that the contract would be fulfilled, the deliveries still had not been completed by November 1881. Brooklyn mayor Seth Low, who became part of the board of trustees in 1882, became the chairman of a committee tasked to investigate Edgemoor's failure to fulfill the contract. When questioned, Edgemoor's president stated that the delays were the fault of another contractor, the Cambria Iron Company, who was manufacturing the eyebars for the bridge trusses; at that point, the contract was supposed to be complete by October 1882.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: Further complicating the situation, Washington Roebling had failed to appear at the trustees' meeting in June 1882, since he had gone to Newport, Rhode Island. After the news media discovered this, most of the newspapers called for Roebling to be fired as chief engineer, except for the "Daily State Gazette" of Trenton, New Jersey, and the "Brooklyn Daily Eagle". Some of the longstanding trustees, including Henry C. Murphy, James S. T. Stranahan, and William C. Kingsley, were willing to vouch for Roebling, since construction progress on the Brooklyn Bridge was still ongoing. However, Roebling's behavior was considered suspect among the younger trustees who had joined the board more recently.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: Construction on the bridge itself was noted in formal reports that Murphy presented each month to the mayors of New York and Brooklyn. For example, Murphy's report in August 1882 noted that the month's progress included 114 intermediate cords erected within a week, as well as 72 diagonal stays, 60 posts, and numerous floor beams, bridging trusses, and stay bars. By early 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was considered mostly completed and was projected to open that June. Contracts for bridge lighting were awarded by February 1883, and a toll scheme was approved that March.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: There was substantial opposition to the bridge's construction from shipbuilders and merchants located to the north, who argued that the bridge would not provide sufficient clearance underneath for ships. In May 1876, these groups, led by Abraham Miller, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the cities of New York and Brooklyn.


title: Brooklyn Bridge

text: In 1879, an Assembly Sub-Committee on Commerce and Navigation began an investigation into the Brooklyn Bridge. A seaman who had been hired to determine the height of the span, testified to the committee about the difficulties that ship masters would experience in bringing their ships under the bridge when it was completed. Another witness, Edward Wellman Serrell, a civil engineer, said that the calculations of the bridge's assumed strength were incorrect. The Supreme Court decided in 1883 that the Brooklyn Bridge was a lawful structure.