title: Knight

text: Plate armour first appeared in the Medieval Ages in the 13th century, plates were added onto the torso and mounted to a base of leather. This form of armour is known as a coat of plates. The torso wasn't the only part of the knight to receive this plate protection evolution, as the elbows and shoulders were covered with circular pieces of metal, commonly referred to as rondels, eventually evolving into the plate arm harness consisting of the rerebrace, vambrace, and spaulder or pauldron. The legs too were covered in plates, mainly on the shin, called schynbalds which later evolved to fully enclose the leg in the form of enclosed greaves. As for the upper legs, cuisses came about in the mid 14th century. Overall, plate armour offered better protection against piercing weapons such as arrows and especially bolts than mail armour did.


title: Knight

text: Knights' horses were also armoured in later periods; caparisons were the first form of medieval horse coverage and was used much like the surcoat. Other armours, such as the facial armouring chanfron, were made for horses.


title: Knight

text: Knights and the ideals of knighthood featured largely in medieval and Renaissance literature, and have secured a permanent place in literary romance. While chivalric romances abound, particularly notable literary portrayals of knighthood include "The Song of Roland", "Cantar de Mio Cid", The Twelve of England, Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Knight's Tale", Baldassare Castiglione's "The Book of the Courtier", and Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote", as well as Sir Thomas Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur" and other Arthurian tales (Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia Regum Britanniae", the Pearl Poet's "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", etc.).


title: Knight

text: Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia Regum Britanniae" ("History of the Kings of Britain"), written in the 1130s, introduced the legend of King Arthur, which was to be important to the development of chivalric ideals in literature. Sir Thomas Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur" ("The Death of Arthur"), written in 1469, was important in defining the ideal of chivalry, which is essential to the modern concept of the knight, as an elite warrior sworn to uphold the values of faith, loyalty, courage, and honour.


title: Knight

text: Instructional literature was also created. Geoffroi de Charny's "Book of Chivalry" expounded upon the importance of Christian faith in every area of a knight's life, though still laying stress on the primarily military focus of knighthood.


title: Knight

text: In the early Renaissance greater emphasis was laid upon courtliness. The ideal courtier—the chivalrous knight—of Baldassarre Castiglione's "The Book of the Courtier" became a model of the ideal virtues of nobility. Castiglione's tale took the form of a discussion among the nobility of the court of the Duke of Urbino, in which the characters determine that the ideal knight should be renowned not only for his bravery and prowess in battle, but also as a skilled dancer, athlete, singer and orator, and he should also be well-read in the humanities and classical Greek and Latin literature.


title: Knight

text: Later Renaissance literature, such as Miguel de Cervantes's "Don Quixote", rejected the code of chivalry as unrealistic idealism. The rise of Christian humanism in Renaissance literature demonstrated a marked departure from the chivalric romance of late medieval literature, and the chivalric ideal ceased to influence literature over successive centuries until it saw some pockets of revival in post-Victorian literature.


title: Knight

text: By the mid to late 16th century, knights were quickly becoming obsolete as countries started creating their own professional armies that were faster to train, cheaper to equip, and easier to mobilize. The advancement of high-powered firearms contributed greatly to the decline in use of plate armour, as the time it took to train soldiers with guns was much less compared to that of the knight. The cost of equipment was also significantly lower, and guns had a reasonable chance to easily penetrate a knight's armour. In the 14th century the use of infantrymen armed with pikes and fighting in close formation also proved effective against heavy cavalry, such as during the Battle of Nancy, when Charles the Bold and his armoured cavalry were decimated by Swiss pikemen. As the feudal system came to an end, lords saw no further use of knights. Many landowners found the duties of knighthood too expensive and so contented themselves with the use of squires. Mercenaries also became an economic alternative to knights when conflicts arose.


title: Knight

text: Armies of the time started adopting a more realistic approach to warfare than the honor-bound code of chivalry. Soon, the remaining knights were absorbed into professional armies. Although they had a higher rank than most soldiers because of their valuable lineage, they lost their distinctive identity that previously set them apart from common soldiers. Some knightly orders survived into modern times. They adopted newer technology while still retaining their age-old chivalric traditions. Examples include the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, Knights Hospitaller and Teutonic Knights.


title: Knight

text: When chivalry had long since declined, the cavalry of the early modern era clung to the old ideals. Even the first fighter pilots of the First World War, in the 20th century, still resorted to knightly ideas in their duels in the sky, aimed at fairness and honesty. At least; such chivalry was spread in the media. This idea was then completely lost in later wars or was perverted by Nazi Germany, which awarded a "Knight's Cross" as an award. Conversely, the Austrian priest and resistance fighter Heinrich Maier is referred to as Miles Christi, a Christian knight against Nazi Germany.


title: Knight

text: While on the one hand attempts are made again and again to revive or restore old knightly orders in order to gain prestige, awards and financial advantages, on the other hand old orders continue to exist or are activated. This especially in the environment of ruling or formerly ruling noble houses. For example, the British Queen Elizabeth II regularly appointed new members to the Order of the British Empire, which also includes members such as Steven Spielberg, Nelson Mandela and Bill Gates, in the 21st century. In Central Europe, for example, the Order of St. George, whose roots go back to the so-called "last knight" Emperor Maximilian I, was reactivated by the House of Habsburg after its dissolution by Nazi Germany and the fall of the Iron Curtain. And in republican France, deserved personalities are highlighted to this day by the award of the Knight of Honor (Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur - Legion of Honour). In contrast, the knights of the ecclesiastical knightly orders like the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Order of Saint John mainly devote themselves to social tasks and care.


title: Knight

text: The journalist Alexander von Schönburg dealt with nature and the possible necessity of chivalry. In view of the complete social disorientation of the people he diagnosed, he calls for a return to virtues such as modesty, wisdom and, above all, loyalty. For, according to him, the common creed today is roughness, ignorance and egocentrism. Vinzenz Stimpfl-Abele, Procurator of the Habsburg Order of St. George, goes back to Bernhard von Clairvaux to consider the importance of knights in the 21st century. Accordingly, knights must take an active part in the fight against misery in society, especially today. The current activities of the Knights of the Order of Malta and the Order of St. John, who since the beginning of the 20th century have increasingly provided extensive medical and charitable services during wars and peacetime, have also developed in this direction.


title: Knight

text: In continental Europe different systems of hereditary knighthood have existed or do exist. "Ridder", Dutch for "knight", is a hereditary noble title in the Netherlands. It is the lowest title within the nobility system and ranks below that of "Baron" but above "Jonkheer" (the latter is not a title, but a Dutch honorific to show that someone belongs to the untitled nobility). The collective term for its holders in a certain locality is the Ridderschap (e.g. Ridderschap van Holland, Ridderschap van Friesland, etc.). In the Netherlands no female equivalent exists. Before 1814, the history of nobility is separate for each of the eleven provinces that make up the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In each of these, there were in the early Middle Ages a number of feudal lords who often were just as powerful, and sometimes more so than the rulers themselves. In old times, no other title existed but that of knight. In the Netherlands only 10 knightly families are still extant, a number which steadily decreases because in that country ennoblement or incorporation into the nobility is not possible anymore.


title: Knight

text: Likewise "Ridder", Dutch for "knight", or the equivalent French "Chevalier" is a hereditary noble title in Belgium. It is the second lowest title within the nobility system above "Écuyer" or "Jonkheer/Jonkvrouw" and below "Baron". Like in the Netherlands, no female equivalent to the title exists. Belgium still does have about 232 registered knightly families.


title: Knight

text: The German and Austrian equivalent of an hereditary knight is a "Ritter". This designation is used as a title of nobility in all German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second lowest rank within the nobility, standing above "Edler" (noble) and below "Freiherr" (baron). For its historical association with warfare and the landed gentry in the Middle Ages, it can be considered roughly equal to the titles of "Knight" or "Baronet".


title: Knight

text: In the Kingdom of Spain, the Royal House of Spain grants titles of knighthood to the successor of the throne. This knighthood title known as Order of the Golden Fleece is among the most prestigious and exclusive chivalric orders. This order can also be granted to persons not belonging to the Spanish Crown, as the former Emperor of Japan Akihito, Queen of United Kingdom Elizabeth II or the important Spanish politician of the Spanish democratic transition Adolfo Suárez, among others.


title: Knight

text: The Royal House of Portugal historically bestowed hereditary knighthoods to holders of the highest ranks in the Royal Orders. Today, the head of the Royal House of Portugal Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, bestows hereditary knighthoods for extraordinary acts of sacrifice and service to the Royal House. There are very few hereditary knights and they are entitled to wear an oval neck badge with the shield of the house of Braganza. Portuguese hereditary knighthoods confer nobility.


title: Knight

text: In France, the hereditary knighthood existed similarly throughout as a title of nobility, as well as in regions formerly under Holy Roman Empire control. One family ennobled with a title in such a manner is the house of Hauteclocque (by letters patents of 1752), even if its most recent members used a pontifical title of count. In some other regions such as Normandy, a specific type of fief was granted to the lower ranked knights () called the "fief de haubert", referring to the hauberk, or chain mail shirt worn almost daily by knights, as they would not only fight for their liege lords, but enforce and carry out their orders on a routine basis as well. Later the term came to officially designate the higher rank of the nobility in the Ancien Régime (the lower rank being Squire), as the romanticism and prestige associated with the term grew in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.


title: Knight

text: Italy and Poland also had the hereditary knighthood that existed within their respective systems of nobility.


title: Knight

text: There are traces of the Continental system of hereditary knighthood in Ireland. Notably all three of the following belong to the Hiberno-Norman FitzGerald dynasty, created by the Earls of Desmond, acting as Earls Palatine, for their kinsmen.


title: Knight

text: Another Irish family were the O'Shaughnessys, who were created knights in 1553 under the policy of surrender and regrant (first established by Henry VIII of England). They were attainted in 1697 for participation on the Jacobite side in the Williamite wars.


title: Knight

text: Since 1611, the British Crown has awarded a hereditary title in the form of the baronetcy. Like knights, baronets are accorded the title "Sir". Baronets are not peers of the Realm, and have never been entitled to sit in the House of Lords, therefore like knights they remain commoners in the view of the British legal system. However, unlike knights, the title is hereditary and the recipient does not receive an accolade. The position is therefore more comparable with hereditary knighthoods in continental European orders of nobility, such as "Ritter", than with knighthoods under the British orders of chivalry. However, unlike the continental orders, the British baronetcy system was a modern invention, designed specifically to raise money for the Crown with the purchase of the title.


title: Knight

text: Other orders were established in the Iberian peninsula, under the influence of the orders in the Holy Land and the Crusader movement of the Reconquista:


title: Knight

text: After the Crusades, the military orders became idealized and romanticized, resulting in the late medieval notion of chivalry, as reflected in the chivalric romances of the time. The creation of chivalric orders was fashionable among the nobility in the 14th and 15th centuries, and this is still reflected in contemporary honours systems, including the term "order" itself. Examples of notable orders of chivalry are:


title: Knight

text: From roughly 1560, purely honorific orders were established, as a way to confer prestige and distinction, unrelated to military service and chivalry in the more narrow sense. Such orders were particularly popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, and knighthood continues to be conferred in various countries:


title: Knight

text: There are other monarchies and also republics that also follow this practice. Modern knighthoods are typically conferred in recognition for services rendered to society, which are not necessarily martial in nature. The British musician Elton John, for example, is a Knight Bachelor, thus entitled to be called Sir Elton. The female equivalent is a "Dame", for example Dame Julie Andrews.


title: Knight

text: In the British honours system the knightly style of "Sir" and its female equivalent "Dame" are followed by the given name only when addressing the holder. Thus, Sir Elton John should be addressed as "Sir Elton", not "Sir John" or "Mr John". Similarly, actress Dame Judi Dench should be addressed as "Dame Judi", not "Dame Dench" or "Ms Dench".


title: Knight

text: Wives of knights, however, are entitled to the honorific pre-nominal "Lady" before their husband's surname. Thus Sir Paul McCartney's ex-wife was formally styled "Lady McCartney" (rather than "Lady Paul McCartney" or "Lady Heather McCartney"). The style "Dame Heather McCartney" could be used for the wife of a knight; however, this style is largely archaic and is only used in the most formal of documents, or where the wife is a Dame in her own right (such as Dame Norma Major, who gained her title six years before her husband Sir John Major was knighted). The husbands of Dames have no honorific pre-nominal, so Dame Norma's husband remained John Major until he received his own knighthood. Since the reign of Edward VII a clerk in holy orders in the Church of England has not normally received the accolade on being appointed to a degree of knighthood. He receives the insignia of his honour and may place the appropriate letters after his name or title but he may not be called Sir and his wife may not be called Lady. This custom is not observed in Australia and New Zealand, where knighted Anglican clergymen routinely use the title "Sir". Ministers of other Christian Churches are entitled to receive the accolade. For example, Sir Norman Cardinal Gilroy did receive the accolade on his appointment as Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1969. A knight who is subsequently ordained does not lose his title. A famous example of this situation was The Revd Sir Derek Pattinson, who was ordained just a year after he was appointed Knight Bachelor, apparently somewhat to the consternation of officials at Buckingham Palace. A woman clerk in holy orders may be made a Dame in exactly the same way as any other woman since there are no military connotations attached to the honour. A clerk in holy orders who is a baronet is entitled to use the title Sir.


title: Knight

text: Outside the British honours system it is usually considered improper to address a knighted person as 'Sir' or 'Dame' (notable exceptions are members of the Order of the Knights of Rizal in the Republic of the Philippines.) Some countries, however, historically have equivalent honorifics for knights, such as Cavaliere in Italy (e.g. "Cavaliere" Benito Mussolini), and Ritter in Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (e.g. Georg "Ritter von Trapp").


title: Knight

text: State knighthoods in the Netherlands are issued in three orders: the Order of William, the Order of the Netherlands Lion, and the Order of Orange Nassau. Additionally there remain a few hereditary knights in the Netherlands.


title: Knight

text: In Belgium, honorific knighthood (not hereditary) can be conferred by the king on particularly meritorious individuals such as scientists or eminent businessmen, or for instance to astronaut Frank De Winne, the second Belgian in space. This practice is similar to the conferral of the dignity of Knight Bachelor in the United Kingdom. In addition, there still are a number of hereditary knights in Belgium .


title: Knight

text: In France and Belgium, one of the ranks conferred in some orders of merit, such as the Légion d'Honneur, the Ordre National du Mérite, the Ordre des Palmes académiques and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France, and the Order of Leopold, Order of the Crown and Order of Leopold II in Belgium, is that of "Chevalier" (in French) or "Ridder" (in Dutch), meaning Knight.


title: Knight

text: In the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth the monarchs tried to establish chivalric orders, but the hereditary lords who controlled the Union did not agree and managed to ban such assemblies. They feared the king would use orders to gain support for absolutist goals and to make formal distinctions among the peerage, which could lead to its legal breakup into two separate classes, and that the king would later play one against the other and eventually limit the legal privileges of hereditary nobility. But finally in 1705 King managed to establish the Order of the White Eagle which remains Poland's most prestigious order of that kind. The head of state (now the President as the acting Grand Master) confers knighthoods of the order to distinguished citizens, foreign monarchs and other heads of state. The order has its chapter. There were no particular honorifics that would accompany a knight's name, as historically all (or at least by far most) of its members would be royals or hereditary lords anyway. So today, a knight is simply referred to as "Name Surname, knight of the White Eagle (Order)".


title: Knight

text: In Nigeria, holders of religious honours like the Knighthood of St. Gregory make use of the word "Sir" as a pre-nominal honorific in much the same way as it is used for secular purposes in Britain and the Philippines. Wives of such individuals also typically assume the title of Lady.


title: Knight

text: Women were appointed to the Order of the Garter almost from the start. In all, 68 women were appointed between 1358 and 1488, including all consorts. Though many were women of royal blood, or wives of knights of the Garter, some women were neither. They wore the garter on the left arm, and some are shown on their tombstones with this arrangement. After 1488, no other appointments of women are known, although it is said that the Garter was conferred upon Neapolitan poet Laura Bacio Terricina, by King Edward VI. In 1638, a proposal was made to revive the use of robes for the wives of knights in ceremonies, but this did not occur. Queens consort have been made Ladies of the Garter since 1901 (Queens Alexandra in 1901, Mary in 1910 and Elizabeth in 1937). The first non-royal woman to be made Lady Companion of the Garter was The Duchess of Norfolk in 1990, the second was The Baroness Thatcher in 1995 (post-nominal: LG). On 30 November 1996, Lady Fraser was made Lady of the Thistle, the first non-royal woman (post-nominal: LT). (See Edmund Fellowes, "Knights of the Garter", 1939; and Beltz: "Memorials of the Order of the Garter"). The first woman to be granted a knighthood in modern Britain seems to have been Nawab Sikandar Begum Sahiba, Nawab Begum of Bhopal, who became a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India (GCSI) in 1861, at the foundation of the order. Her daughter received the same honor in 1872, as well as her granddaughter in 1910. The order was open to "princes and chiefs" without distinction of gender. The first European woman to have been granted an order of knighthood was Queen Mary, when she was made a Knight Grand Commander of the same order, by special statute, in celebration of the Delhi Durbar of 1911. She was also granted a damehood in 1917 as a Dame Grand Cross, when the Order of the British Empire was created (it was the first order explicitly open to women). The Royal Victorian Order was opened to women in 1936, and the Orders of the Bath and Saint Michael and Saint George in 1965 and 1971 respectively.


title: Knight

text: Medieval French had two words, chevaleresse and chevalière, which were used in two ways: one was for the wife of a knight, and this usage goes back to the 14th century. The other was possibly for a female knight. Here is a quote from Ménestrier, a 17th-century writer on chivalry: "It was not always necessary to be the wife of a knight in order to take this title. Sometimes, when some male fiefs were conceded by special privilege to women, they took the rank of chevaleresse, as one sees plainly in Hemricourt where women who were not wives of knights are called chevaleresses." Modern French orders of knighthood include women, for example the Légion d'Honneur (Legion of Honor) since the mid-19th century, but they are usually called chevaliers. The first documented case is that of Angélique Brûlon (1772–1859), who fought in the Revolutionary Wars, received a military disability pension in 1798, the rank of 2nd lieutenant in 1822, and the Legion of Honor in 1852. A recipient of the Ordre National du Mérite recently requested from the order's Chancery the permission to call herself "chevalière," and the request was granted.


title: Knight

text: As related in "Orders of Knighthood, Awards and the Holy See" by H. E. Cardinale (1983), the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary was founded by two Bolognese nobles Loderingo degli Andalò and Catalano di Guido in 1233, and approved by Pope Alexander IV in 1261. It was the first religious order of knighthood to grant the rank of militissa to women. However, this order was suppressed by Pope Sixtus V in 1558.


title: Knight

text: At the initiative of Catherine Baw in 1441, and 10 years later of Elizabeth, Mary, and Isabella of the house of Hornes, orders were founded which were open exclusively to women of noble birth, who received the French title of chevalière or the Latin title of equitissa. In his Glossarium (s.v. militissa), Du Cange notes that still in his day (17th century), the female canons of the canonical monastery of St. Gertrude in Nivelles (Brabant), after a probation of 3 years, are made knights (militissae) at the altar, by a (male) knight called in for that purpose, who gives them the accolade with a sword and pronounces the usual words.


title: Knight

text: To honour those women who defended Tortosa against an attack by the Moors, Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, created the Order of the Hatchet ("Orden de la Hacha") in 1149.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: Hardik Himanshu Pandya (born 11 October 1993) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team in ODI and Twenty20 International (T20I) format as an All-rounder. Pandya also captained India for 3 matches in the absence of senior players. Pandya has acted as stand-in captain in T20Is for India. Pandya bats right-handed and bowls right-arm fast-medium. He has played in all 3 formats for India. He also plays for Baroda cricket team in domestic cricket and captains the newly debuted franchise Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and led them to their maiden IPL title in the 2022 edition. His elder brother Krunal Pandya is also a cricketer.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: Hardik Pandya was born on 11 October 1993 in Surat, Gujarat. His father, Himanshu Pandya, ran a small car finance business in Surat which he shut down and moved to Vadodara when Hardik was five to provide his sons with better cricket training facilities. Himanshu Pandya worked as Loan agent in Vadodara. He enrolled his two sons into Kiran More's cricket academy in Vadodara. Lacking finances, the Pandya family lived in a rented apartment in Gorwa, with the brothers using a second-hand car to travel to the cricket ground. Hardik studied at the MK High School until ninth grade before dropping out to focus on cricket.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: Hardik made steady progress in junior-level cricket, and according to Krunal, "won a lot of matches single-handedly" in club cricket. In an interview with "the Indian Express", Hardik revealed that he was dropped from his state age-group teams due to his "attitude problems". He added that he was "just an expressive child" who did not "like to hide his emotions."


title: Hardik Pandya

text: According to his father, Hardik was a leg spinner until the age of 18 and turned to fast bowling at the insistence of the Baroda coach Sanath Kumar.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: Pandya has been playing for the Baroda cricket team since 2013. He played a vital role in helping Baroda win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the 2013–14 season. In January 2016, he slammed eight sixes during his innings, scoring 86 runs not-out, to guide the Baroda cricket team to a six-wicket win over Vidarbha cricket team for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: Pandya played for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL from 2015 to 2021. Against the Kolkata Knight Riders, in a must-win situation for Mumbai Indians to remain in the playoff race, he scored 61 runs off 31 balls to win the match for his side, earning him his second man of the match award in the season.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: Ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction, Pandya was released by the Mumbai Indians. He was then drafted by the new Ahmedabad franchise, Gujarat Titans, and named captain of the team. He led Gujarat to their maiden IPL title in 2022, becoming the first captain after Shane Warne to lead a team to the title in its first year.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: Pandya made his Twenty20 International debut for India on 27 January 2016 at the age of 22, picking up 2 wickets against Australia. His first Twenty20 International wicket was Chris Lynn. In the second T20I against Sri Lanka cricket team at Ranchi, he batted ahead of Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni and hit 27 off 14 balls before becoming hat-trick victim of Thisara Perera. In Asia Cup 2016, Pandya smashed an 18-ball 31 helping India post a respectable score against Bangladesh. Later on, he also picked up a wicket to secure the win. In the next match against Pakistan he bowled his best figures of 3 for 8 which restricted Pakistan to 83. In a 2016 World Twenty20 match against Bangladesh on 23 March, Pandya took two crucial wickets in the last three balls of match's final over as India beat Bangladesh by one run. His career best bowling figures of 4 for 38 was achieved in the 3rd and final Twenty20 International against England on 8 July 2018, he got 33 Not Out in 14 balls, hitting the winning runs with a six off Jordan. Hardik became first Indian to take 4 wickets and score above 30 runs in a T20I in the same match.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: In September 2021, Pandya was named in India's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. However, Pandya failed to make an impact as was expected. He scored 11 against Pakistan, which India lost by 10 wickets. His subsequent innings of 23 against New Zealand did not help to further India's cause in the tournament as losing against New Zealand meant India crashed out of the World Cup despite winning big over inexperienced teams like Afghanistan, Scotland, and Namibia. Pandya was picked as an allrounder. However he only bowled 2 overs against New Zealand without picking any wickets and giving away 17 runs. His lack of runs and inability to contribute with the ball led to his dropping from the squad for the T20I series that followed the World Cup against New Zealand.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: On July 7, 2022 Pandya achieved his first T20 international half-century against England at The Rose Bowl ground in Southampton, scoring 51 runs on 33 balls. Pandya also took 4 wickets, making him the first Indian player to record a half-century and take 4 wickets in a single T20 international match.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: Pandya made his One Day International (ODI) debut for India against New Zealand on 16 October 2016 at Dharamshala. He became the fourth Indian to be named player of the match on ODI debut after Sandeep Patil, Mohit Sharma and K. L. Rahul. In his first ODI innings as a batsman, he scored 36 runs from 32 balls. In the group stages of ICC Champions Trophy, Pandya hit three consecutive sixes off Imad Wasim in the same over before rain stopped play. On 18 June 2017, in the final of the Champions Trophy at the Oval, he struck a 43-ball 76 in a losing cause, after coming in with India at 54/5 following a top order collapse.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: In April 2019, he was named in India's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. On 27 June 2019, in the match against the West Indies, Pandya played in his 50th ODI.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: On 17 July 2022, Pandya bowled his ODI career-best 4-24 against England in Old Trafford. His 71 runs scored during the 2nd innings of the same match made him the first Indian player to score a half-century and take 4 wickets in an ODI since Yuvraj Singh in 2011.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: Pandya was included in India's Test squad for their home series against England in late 2016, but was eventually left out after he injured himself while training in the nets at the PCA Stadium. He was named in the squad that toured Sri Lanka in July 2017 and played his first Test on 26 July in Galle. In the 3rd and the final Test match against Sri Lanka at Pallekele, Pandya scored his maiden Test century, and set the record for becoming the first Indian batsman to score a Test century just before lunch. He also set the record for scoring the most runs in a single over of a Test innings for India, scoring 26 runs. This century was his first century in international cricket.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: Pandya got engaged to an Indian-based Serbian dancer and actress Nataša Stanković on 1 January 2020. Soon after, on 30 July 2020, their first child Agastya Pandya was born seven months after their marriage.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: His brother Krunal Pandya has also played for India and the Mumbai Indians. Their father, Himanshu Pandya died in January 2021, following a cardiac arrest.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: In January 2019, Pandya appeared with teammate K. L. Rahul on the show Koffee with Karan, and made several controversial comments which were met with immediate public backlash. During the interview, Pandya spoke about how he had proudly informed his parents of his first sexual encounter, which was well received by them. He also proclaimed that he likes to "observe how women move" at high-end bars and nightclubs, as well as on social media and then went on to liken himself to a black person saying, "I'm a little from the black side so I need to see how they move". The public categorized his monologue as indecent, derogatory, misogynistic and disgraceful. Pandya apologized for his remarks by saying that he had gotten carried away by the nature of the show.


title: Hardik Pandya

text: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) responded to the controversy by saying, "It will be considered whether players should even be allowed to appear on such TV shows which have got nothing to do with cricket." The BCCI found the comments as very crass, sexist and cringeworthy, and was not impressed by the apology, seeking appropriate legal action into the matter as it was a breach of conduct. Both Pandya and Rahul were handed a suspension until a pending investigation and were called back from the ongoing tours of Australia and New Zealand. Furthermore, on 13 January 2019, Gillette suspended their brand association with Pandya for its Mach3 razor. On 24 January 2019, after lifting the suspension on Pandya and Rahul, the BCCI announced that Pandya would re-join the squad for the matches in New Zealand.


title: Angela Kinsey

text: Angela Faye Kinsey (born June 25, 1971) is an American actress. She played Angela Martin in the sitcom "The Office" (2005–2013) and appeared in the sitcoms "Your Family or Mine" (2015) and "Haters Back Off" (2016–2017). Since "The Office", Kinsey has appeared in Netflix's "Tall Girl", Disney+'s "Be Our Chef", "A.P. Bio", and is currently a panelist on MTV's "Deliciousness". She is a podcast co-host of "Office Ladies".


title: Angela Kinsey

text: Kinsey was born in Lafayette, Louisiana. When she was two years old, her family moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, where her father worked as a drilling engineer. They lived there for 13 years, and she attended the Jakarta Intercultural School. During this time, she learned Indonesian, a language she still occasionally speaks. Her family returned to the United States and settled in Archer City, Texas.


title: Angela Kinsey

text: Kinsey studied English at Baylor University, where she became a member of the Chi Omega sorority, "took as many theatre classes as possible", and participated in the "Baylor in London" program.


title: Angela Kinsey

text: After graduating from Baylor in 1993, Kinsey served as an intern on the NBC talk show "Late Night with Conan O'Brien", which she described as an "awesome" experience. She worked for the show's band leader, drummer Max Weinberg. The experience inspired Kinsey to take a coast-to-coast road trip with a friend from New York City to California.


title: Angela Kinsey

text: Kinsey moved to Los Angeles and took improvisation classes with The Groundlings and at iO West (formerly known as "Improv Olympic West"). Following a two-woman show at iO, she was an operator at 1-800-Dentist and made small one-episode appearances in various sitcoms. She voiced the character "Angela" on two episodes of "King of the Hill". In early 2005, she auditioned for the role of receptionist Pam Beesly for the American version of "The Office". After producers told her she was "a little too feisty for Pam" she was called back to audition for the role of Angela Martin, which she won. She also appeared on "Monk" as a murderer named Arlene Boras in "Mr. Monk and the Naked Man" (2007) and "Mr. Monk's 100th Case" (2008).


title: Angela Kinsey

text: In June 2007, Kinsey shared in the Daytime Emmy Award "Outstanding Broadband Program – Comedy", for her work on "", which is a series of webisodes.


title: Angela Kinsey

text: Kinsey is one of several cast members of "The Office" to have a role in "License to Wed", a film directed by Ken Kwapis, who often directed episodes of "The Office". Kinsey updated her MySpace blog with behind-the-scenes anecdotes of upcoming episodes of the series. She also took to organizing "The Office" cast outings: "I remember watching "Friends" and thinking, 'They really enjoy each other.' We, in fact, hang out."


title: Angela Kinsey

text: In summer 2011, she became the new spokesperson for Clairol hair products, appearing in television ads for Clairol Nice 'n Easy. In 2013, she starred in "New Girl". Since 2014, Kinsey has starred in the Hulu comedy series "The Hotwives," returning for season two on August 18, 2015. That same year, she starred in the film "All-Stars" with Lance Kinsey (no relation).


title: Angela Kinsey

text: Kinsey stars in the Netflix Original Series "Haters Back Off" as Bethany, the mother of the main character Miranda Sings. She appears alongside YouTube star Colleen Ballinger, as Miranda, and Steve Little, as Miranda's uncle Jim. While the first season was met with relatively mixed reviews, Kinsey received critical acclaim for her performance. In 2019, Kinsey starred in the Netflix film "Tall Girl" and plays the mom to Ava Michelle's main character Jodi.


title: Angela Kinsey

text: In 2020, Kinsey appeared as the host of Disney+'s "Be Our Chef" and as a panelist on MTV's "Deliciousness".


title: Angela Kinsey

text: On September 11, 2019, Kinsey announced via Twitter that she and Jenna Fischer would be co-hosting a weekly podcast called "Office Ladies". According to Fischer's announcement, she and Kinsey "watch an episode of "The Office" and give you all the stories and behind-the-scenes scoop...as well as some BFF banter about our lives." The first episode of "Office Ladies" was released October 16, 2019. The podcast is still airing as of October 2022, with appearances from "The Office"s cast and crew. The podcast won Podcast of the Year at the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards 2021.


title: Angela Kinsey

text: In 2021, Kinsey announced that she would be releasing a book, "Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There", with former co-star Jenna Fischer, which was released in 2022.


title: Angela Kinsey

text: On June 18, 2000, she married writer and producer Warren Lieberstein. He is the brother of Paul Lieberstein, who played Toby Flenderson on "The Office". She gave birth to their daughter in May 2008. On February 18, 2009, Kinsey and her husband separated. Her representative stated that the two continue to be friends. In June 2010, it was announced that Kinsey had filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences."


title: Angela Kinsey

text: On August 4, 2016, Kinsey announced her engagement to her long-term boyfriend, actor and baker Joshua Snyder. On November 13, 2016, Kinsey married Snyder. Together, they have a YouTube channel and website called Baking with Josh & Ange.


title: Angela Kinsey

text: Kinsey is Presbyterian. She has said her grandmother does not watch "The Office" because she feels the protagonist Michael Scott is too "vulgar." Kinsey said, "She'll say to me, 'Baby, we're so proud of you, I'm proud of you, but I do not care for the show and I do not watch it.


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, to identify the settings, tropes, and lore that were employed by Lovecraft and his literary successors. The name "Cthulhu" derives from the central creature in Lovecraft's seminal short story "The Call of Cthulhu", first published in the pulp magazine "Weird Tales" in 1928.


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: Richard L. Tierney, a writer who also wrote Mythos tales, later applied the term "Derleth Mythos" to distinguish Lovecraft's works from Derleth's later stories, which modify key tenets of the Mythos. Authors of Lovecraftian horror in particular frequently use elements of the Cthulhu Mythos.


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: In his essay "H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos", Robert M. Price described two stages in the development of the Cthulhu Mythos. Price called the first stage the "Cthulhu Mythos proper". This stage was formulated during Lovecraft's lifetime and was subject to his guidance. The second stage was guided by August Derleth who, in addition to publishing Lovecraft's stories after his death, attempted to categorize and expand the Mythos.


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: An ongoing theme in Lovecraft's work is the complete irrelevance of mankind in the face of the cosmic horrors that apparently exist in the universe. Lovecraft made frequent references to the "Great Old Ones", a loose pantheon of ancient, powerful deities from space who once ruled the Earth and have since fallen into a deathlike sleep. While these monstrous deities were present in almost all of Lovecraft's published work (his second short story "Dagon", published in 1919, is considered the start of the Mythos), the first story to really expand the pantheon of Great Old Ones and its themes is "The Call of Cthulhu", which was published in 1928.


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: Lovecraft broke with other pulp writers of the time by having his main characters' minds deteriorate when afforded a glimpse of what exists outside their perceived reality. He emphasized the point by stating in the opening sentence of the story that "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents."


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: Writer Dirk W. Mosig noted that Lovecraft was a "mechanistic materialist" who embraced the philosophy of cosmic indifferentism and believed in a purposeless, mechanical, and uncaring universe. Human beings, with their limited faculties, can never fully understand this universe, and the cognitive dissonance caused by this revelation leads to insanity, in his view.


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: There have been attempts at categorizing this fictional group of beings. Phillip A. Schreffler argues that by carefully scrutinizing Lovecraft's writings, a workable framework emerges that outlines the entire "pantheon"from the unreachable "Outer Ones" (e.g., Azathoth, who occupies the centre of the universe) and "Great Old Ones" (e.g., Cthulhu, imprisoned on Earth in the sunken city of R'lyeh) to the lesser castes (the lowly slave shoggoths and the Mi-Go).


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: David E. Schultz said Lovecraft never meant to create a canonical Mythos but rather intended his imaginary pantheon to serve merely as a background element. Lovecraft himself humorously referred to his Mythos as "Yog Sothothery" (Dirk W. Mosig coincidentally suggested the term "Yog-Sothoth Cycle of Myth" be substituted for "Cthulhu Mythos"). At times, Lovecraft even had to remind his readers that his Mythos creations were entirely fictional.


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: Price said Lovecraft's writings could at least be divided into categories and identified three distinct themes: the "Dunsanian" (written in a similar style as Lord Dunsany), "Arkham" (occurring in Lovecraft's fictionalized New England setting), and "Cthulhu" (the cosmic tales) cycles. Writer Will Murray noted that while Lovecraft often used his fictional pantheon in the stories he ghostwrote for other authors, he reserved Arkham and its environs exclusively for those tales he wrote under his own name.


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: Although the Mythos was not formalized or acknowledged between them, Lovecraft did correspond and share story elements with other contemporary writers including Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch, Frank Belknap Long, Henry Kuttner, Henry S. Whitehead, and Fritz Leibera group referred to as the "Lovecraft Circle."


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: For example, Robert E. Howard's character Friedrich Von Junzt reads Lovecraft's "Necronomicon" in the short story "The Children of the Night" (1931), and in turn Lovecraft mentions Howard's "Unaussprechlichen Kulten" in the stories "Out of the Aeons" (1935) and "The Shadow Out of Time" (1936). Many of Howard's original unedited "Conan" stories also involve parts of the Cthulhu Mythos.


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: Price denotes the second stage's commencement with August Derleth, with the principal difference between Lovecraft and Derleth being Derleth's use of hope and development of the idea that the Cthulhu Mythos essentially represented a struggle between good and evil. Derleth is credited with creating the "Elder Gods". He stated:


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: Price said the basis for Derleth's system is found in Lovecraft: "Was Derleth's use of the rubric 'Elder Gods' so alien to Lovecraft's in "At the Mountains of Madness"? Perhaps not. In fact, this very story, along with some hints from "The Shadow over Innsmouth", provides the key to the origin of the 'Derleth Mythos'. For in "At the Mountains of Madness" is shown the history of a conflict between interstellar races, first among them the Elder Ones and the Cthulhu-spawn.


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: Derleth said Lovecraft wished for other authors to actively write about the Mythos as opposed to it being a discrete plot device within Lovecraft's own stories. Derleth expanded the boundaries of the Mythos by including any passing reference to another author's story elements by Lovecraft as part of the genre. Just as Lovecraft made passing reference to Clark Ashton Smith's "Book of Eibon", Derleth in turn added Smith's Ubbo-Sathla to the Mythos.


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: Derleth also attempted to connect the deities of the Mythos to the four elements (air, earth, fire, and water), creating new beings representative of certain elements in order to legitimize his system of classification. He created "Cthugha" as a sort of fire elemental when a fan, Francis Towner Laney, complained that he had neglected to include the element in his schema. Laney, the editor of "The Acolyte", had categorized the Mythos in an essay that first appeared in the Winter 1942 issue of the magazine.


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: Impressed by the glossary, Derleth asked Laney to rewrite it for publication in the Arkham House collection "Beyond the Wall of Sleep" (1943). Laney's essay ("The Cthulhu Mythos") was later republished in "Crypt of Cthulhu #32" (1985). In applying the elemental theory to beings that function on a cosmic scale (e.g., Yog-Sothoth) some authors created a fifth element that they termed "aethyr".


title: Cthulhu Mythos

text: A number of fictional cults appear in the Cthulhu Mythos, the loosely connected series of horror stories written by Lovecraft and other writers inspired by his creations. Many of these cults serve the Outer God Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, a protean creature that appears in myriad guises. Other cults are dedicated to the cause of the Great Old Ones, a group of powerful alien beings currently imprisoned or otherwise resting in a deathlike sleep.


title: Smilodon

text: Smilodon is a genus of the extinct machairodont subfamily of the felids. It is one of the most famous prehistoric mammals and the best known saber-toothed cat. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related to the tiger or other modern cats. "Smilodon" lived in the Americas during the Pleistocene epoch (2.5 mya – 10,000 years ago). The genus was named in 1842 based on fossils from Brazil; the generic name means "scalpel" or "two-edged knife" combined with "tooth". Three species are recognized today: S. gracilis, S. fatalis, and S. populator. The two latter species were probably descended from "S. gracilis", which itself probably evolved from "Megantereon". The hundreds of individuals obtained from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles constitute the largest collection of "Smilodon" fossils.


title: Smilodon

text: Overall, "Smilodon" was more robustly built than any extant cat, with particularly well-developed forelimbs and exceptionally long upper canine teeth. Its jaw had a bigger gape than that of modern cats, and its upper canines were slender and fragile, being adapted for precision killing. "S. gracilis" was the smallest species at in weight. "S. fatalis" had a weight of and height of . Both of these species are mainly known from North America, but remains from South America have also been attributed to them. "S. populator" from South America was the largest species, at in weight and in height, and was among the largest known felids. The coat pattern of "Smilodon" is unknown, but it has been artistically restored with plain or spotted patterns.


title: Smilodon

text: In North America, "Smilodon" hunted large herbivores such as bison and camels, and it remained successful even when encountering new prey species in South America. "Smilodon" is thought to have killed its prey by holding it still with its forelimbs and biting it, but it is unclear in what manner the bite itself was delivered. Scientists debate whether "Smilodon" had a social or a solitary lifestyle; analysis of modern predator behavior as well as of "Smilodon"s fossil remains could be construed to lend support to either view. "Smilodon" probably lived in closed habitats such as forests and bush, which would have provided cover for ambushing prey. "Smilodon" died out at the same time that most North and South American megafauna disappeared, about 10,000 years ago. Its reliance on large animals has been proposed as the cause of its extinction, along with climate change and competition with other species, but the exact cause is unknown.


title: Smilodon

text: During the 1830s, Danish naturalist Peter Wilhelm Lund and his assistants collected fossils in the calcareous caves near the small town of Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Among the thousands of fossils found, he recognized a few isolated cheek teeth as belonging to a hyena, which he named "Hyaena neogaea" in 1839. After more material was found (including canine teeth and foot bones), Lund concluded the fossils instead belonged to a distinct genus of felid, though transitional to the hyenas. He stated it would have matched the largest modern predators in size, and was more robust than any modern cat. Lund originally wanted to name the new genus "Hyaenodon", but realizing this had recently become preoccupied by another prehistoric predator, he instead named it "Smilodon populator" in 1842. He explained the Ancient Greek meaning of "Smilodon" as ("smilē"), "scalpel" or "two-edged knife", and "οδόντος" ("odóntos"), "tooth". This has also been translated as "tooth shaped like double-edged knife". He explained the species name "populator" as "the destroyer", which has also been translated as "he who brings devastation". By 1846, Lund had acquired nearly every part of the skeleton (from different individuals), and more specimens were found in neighboring countries by other collectors in the following years. Though some later authors used Lund's original species name "neogaea" instead of "populator", it is now considered an invalid "nomen nudum" ("naked name"), as it was not accompanied with a proper description and no type specimens were designated. Some South American specimens have been referred to other genera, subgenera, species, and subspecies, such as "Smilodontidion riggii", "Smilodon" ("Prosmilodon") "ensenadensis", and "S. bonaeriensis", but these are now thought to be junior synonyms of "S. populator".


title: Smilodon

text: Fossils of "Smilodon" were discovered in North America from the second half of the 19th century onwards. In 1869, American paleontologist Joseph Leidy described a maxilla fragment with a molar, which had been discovered in a petroleum bed in Hardin County, Texas. He referred the specimen to the genus "Felis" (which was then used for most cats, extant as well as extinct) but found it distinct enough to be part of its own subgenus, as "F." ("Trucifelis") "fatalis". The species name means "deadly". In an 1880 article about extinct American cats, American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope pointed out that the "F. fatalis" molar was identical to that of "Smilodon", and he proposed the new combination "S. fatalis". Most North American finds were scanty until excavations began in the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, where hundreds of individuals of "S. fatalis" have been found since 1875. "S. fatalis" has junior synonyms such as "S. mercerii", "S. floridanus", and "S. californicus". American paleontologist Annalisa Berta considered the holotype of "S. fatalis" too incomplete to be an adequate type specimen, and the species has at times been proposed to be a junior synonym of "S. populator". Nordic paleontologists Björn Kurtén and Lars Werdelin supported the distinctness of the two species in an article published in 1990. A 2018 article by the American paleontologist John P. Babiarz and colleagues concluded that "S. californicus", represented by the specimens from the La Brea Tar Pits, was a distinct species from "S. fatalis" after all and that more research is needed to clarify the taxonomy of the lineage.


title: Smilodon

text: In his 1880 article about extinct cats, Cope also named a third species of "Smilodon", "S. gracilis". The species was based on a partial canine, which had been obtained in the Port Kennedy Cave near the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania. Cope found the canine to be distinct from that of the other "Smilodon" species due to its smaller size and more compressed base. Its specific name refers to the species' lighter build. This species is known from fewer and less complete remains than the other members of the genus. "S. gracilis" has at times been considered part of genera such as "Megantereon" and "Ischyrosmilus". "S. populator", "S. fatalis" and "S. gracilis" are currently considered the only valid species of "Smilodon", and features used to define most of their junior synonyms have been dismissed as variation between individuals of the same species (intraspecific variation). One of the most famous of prehistoric mammals, "Smilodon" has often been featured in popular media and is the state fossil of California.


title: Smilodon

text: Long the most completely known saber-toothed cat, "Smilodon" is still one of the best-known members of the group, to the point where the two concepts have been confused. The term "saber-tooth" refers to an ecomorph consisting of various groups of extinct predatory synapsids (mammals and close relatives), which convergently evolved extremely long maxillary canines, as well as adaptations to the skull and skeleton related to their use. This includes members of Gorgonopsia, Thylacosmilidae, Machaeroidinae, Nimravidae, Barbourofelidae, and Machairodontinae. Within the family Felidae (true cats), members of the subfamily Machairodontinae are referred to as saber-toothed cats, and this group is itself divided into three tribes: Metailurini (false saber-tooths); Homotherini (scimitar-toothed cats); and Smilodontini (dirk-toothed cats), to which "Smilodon" belongs. Members of Smilodontini are defined by their long slender canines with fine to no serrations, whereas Homotherini are typified by shorter, broad, and more flattened canines, with coarser serrations. Members of Metailurini were less specialized and had shorter, less flattened canines, and are not recognized as members of Machairodontinae by some researchers.


title: Smilodon

text: The earliest felids are known from the Oligocene of Europe, such as "Proailurus", and the earliest one with saber-tooth features is the Miocene genus "Pseudaelurus". The skull and mandible morphology of the earliest saber-toothed cats was similar to that of the modern clouded leopards ("Neofelis"). The lineage further adapted to the precision killing of large animals by developing elongated canine teeth and wider gapes, in the process sacrificing high bite force. As their canines became longer, the bodies of the cats became more robust for immobilizing prey. In derived smilodontins and homotherins, the lumbar region of the spine and the tail became shortened, as did the hind limbs. Based on mitochondrial DNA sequences extracted from fossils, the lineages of "Homotherium" and "Smilodon" are estimated to have diverged about 18 Ma ago. The earliest species of "Smilodon" is "S. gracilis", which existed from 2.5 million to 500,000 years ago (early Blancan to Irvingtonian ages) and was the successor in North America of "Megantereon", from which it probably evolved. "Megantereon" itself had entered North America from Eurasia during the Pliocene, along with "Homotherium". "S. gracilis" reached the northern regions of South America in the Early Pleistocene as part of the Great American Interchange. "S. fatalis" existed 1.6 million–10,000 years ago (late Irvingtonian to Rancholabrean ages), and replaced "S. gracilis" in North America. "S. populator" existed 1 million–10,000 years ago (Ensenadan to Lujanian ages); it occurred in the eastern parts of South America.


title: Smilodon

text: Despite the colloquial name "saber-toothed tiger", "Smilodon" is not closely related to the modern tiger (which belongs in the subfamily Pantherinae), or any other extant felid. A 1992 ancient DNA analysis suggested that "Smilodon" should be grouped with modern cats (subfamilies Felinae and Pantherinae). A 2005 study found that "Smilodon" belonged to a separate lineage. A study published in 2006 confirmed this, showing that the Machairodontinae diverged early from the ancestors of modern cats and were not closely related to any living species. The following cladogram based on fossils and DNA analysis shows the placement of "Smilodon" among extinct and extant felids, after Rincón and colleagues, 2011:


title: Smilodon

text: "Smilodon" was around the size of modern big cats, but was more robustly built. It had a reduced lumbar region, high scapula, short tail, and broad limbs with relatively short feet. "Smilodon" is most famous for its relatively long canine teeth, which are the longest found in the saber-toothed cats, at about long in the largest species, "S.populator". The canines were slender and had fine serrations on the front and back side. The skull was robustly proportioned and the muzzle was short and broad. The cheek bones (zygomata) were deep and widely arched, the sagittal crest was prominent, and the frontal region was slightly convex. The mandible had a flange on each side of the front. The upper incisors were large, sharp, and slanted forwards. There was a diastema (gap) between the incisors and molars of the mandible. The lower incisors were broad, recurved, and placed in a straight line across. The p3 premolar tooth of the mandible was present in most early specimens, but lost in later specimens; it was only present in 6% of the La Brea sample. There is some dispute over whether "Smilodon" was sexually dimorphic. Some studies of "S. fatalis" fossils have found little difference between the sexes. Conversely, a 2012 study found that, while fossils of "S. fatalis" show less variation in size among individuals than modern "Panthera", they do appear to show the same difference between the sexes in some traits.


title: Smilodon

text: "S. gracilis" was the smallest species, estimated at in weight, about the size of a jaguar. It was similar to its predecessor "Megantereon" of the same size, but its dentition and skull were more advanced, approaching "S. fatalis". "S. fatalis" was intermediate in size between "S. gracilis" and "S. populator". It ranged from . and reached a shoulder height of and body length of . It was similar to a lion in dimensions, but was more robust and muscular, and therefore had a larger body mass. Its skull was also similar to that of "Megantereon", though more massive and with larger canines. "S. populator" was among the largest known felids, with a body mass range of , and one estimate suggesting up to . A particularly large "S. populator" skull from Uruguay measuring in length indicates this individual may have weighed as much as . It stood at a shoulder height of . Compared to "S. fatalis", "S. populator" was more robust and had a more elongated and narrow skull with a straighter upper profile, higher positioned nasal bones, a more vertical occiput, more massive metapodials and slightly longer forelimbs relative to hindlimbs. Large tracks from Argentina (for which the ichnotaxon name "Smilodonichium" has been proposed) have been attributed to "S. populator", and measure by . This is larger than tracks of the Bengal tiger, to which the footprints have been compared.


title: Smilodon

text: Traditionally, saber-toothed cats have been artistically restored with external features similar to those of extant felids, by artists such as Charles R. Knight in collaboration with various paleontologists in the early 20th century. In 1969, paleontologist G. J. Miller instead proposed that "Smilodon" would have looked very different from a typical cat and similar to a bulldog, with a lower lip line (to allow its mouth to open wide without tearing the facial tissues), a more retracted nose and lower-placed ears. Paleoartist Mauricio Antón and coauthors disputed this in 1998 and maintained that the facial features of "Smilodon" were overall not very different from those of other cats. Antón noted that modern animals like the hippopotamus are able to open their mouths extremely wide without tearing tissue due to a folded orbicularis oris muscle, and such a muscle arrangement exists in modern large felids. Antón stated that extant phylogenetic bracketing (where the features of the closest extant relatives of a fossil taxon are used as reference) is the most reliable way of restoring the life-appearance of prehistoric animals, and the cat-like "Smilodon" restorations by Knight are therefore still accurate. A 2022 study by Antón and colleagues concluded that the upper canines of "Smilodon" would have been visible when the mouth was closed, while those of "Homotherium" would have not, after examining fossils and extant big cats.


title: Smilodon

text: "Smilodon" and other saber-toothed cats have been reconstructed with both plain-colored coats and with spotted patterns (which appears to be the ancestral condition for feliforms), both of which are considered possible. Studies of modern cat species have found that species that live in the open tend to have uniform coats while those that live in more vegetated habitats have more markings, with some exceptions. Some coat features, such as the manes of male lions or the stripes of the tiger, are too unusual to predict from fossils.


title: Smilodon

text: An apex predator, "Smilodon" primarily hunted large mammals. Isotopes preserved in the bones of "S. fatalis" in the La Brea Tar Pits reveal that ruminants like bison ("Bison antiquus", which was much larger than the modern American bison) and camels ("Camelops") were most commonly taken by the cats there. In addition, isotopes preserved in the tooth enamel of "S. gracilis" specimens from Florida show that this species fed on the peccary "Platygonus" and the llama-like "Hemiauchenia". Isotopic studies of dire wolf ("Aenocyon dirus") and American lion ("Panthera atrox") bones show an overlap with "S. fatalis" in prey, which suggests that they were competitors. More detailed isotope analysis however, indicates that "Smilodon fatalis" preferred forest-dwelling prey such as tapirs, deer and forest-dwelling bison as opposed to the dire wolves' preferences for prey inhabiting open areas such as grassland. The availability of prey in the Rancho La Brea area was likely comparable to modern East Africa.


title: Smilodon

text: As "Smilodon" migrated to South America, its diet changed; bison were absent, the horses and proboscideans were different, and native ungulates such as toxodonts and litopterns were completely unfamiliar, yet "S. populator" thrived as well there as its relatives in North America. Isotopic analysis for "Smilodon populator" suggests that its main prey species included "Toxodon platensis", "Pachyarmatherium", "Holmesina", species of the genus "Panochthus", "Palaeolama", "Catonyx", "Equus neogeus", and the crocodilian "Caiman latirostris". This analysis of its diet also indicates that "S. populator" hunted both in open and forested habitats. The differences between the North and South American species may be due to the difference in prey between the two continents. "Smilodon" may have avoided eating bone and would have left enough food for scavengers. However, coprolites assigned to "S. populator" recovered from Argentina preserve "Mylodon" osteoderms and a "Lama" scaphoid bone. In addition to this unambiguous evidence of bone consumption, the coprolites suggest that "Smilodon" had a more generalist diet than previously thought. Examinations of dental microwear from La Brea further suggests that "Smilodon" consumed both flesh and bone. "Smilodon" itself may have scavenged dire wolf kills. It has been suggested that "Smilodon" was a pure scavenger that used its canines for display to assert dominance over carcasses, but this theory is not supported today as no modern terrestrial mammals are pure scavengers.


title: Smilodon

text: The brain of "Smilodon" had sulcal patterns similar to modern cats, which suggests an increased complexity of the regions that control the sense of hearing, sight, and coordination of the limbs. Felid saber-tooths in general had relatively small eyes that were not as forward-facing as those of modern cats, which have good binocular vision to help them move in trees. "Smilodon" was likely an ambush predator that concealed itself in dense vegetation, as its limb proportions were similar to modern forest-dwelling cats, and its short tail would not have helped it balance while running. Unlike its ancestor "Megantereon", which was at least partially scansorial and therefore able to climb trees, "Smilodon" was probably completely terrestrial due to its greater weight and lack of climbing adaptations. Tracks from Argentina named "Felipeda miramarensis" in 2019 may have been produced by "Smilodon". If correctly identified, the tracks indicate that the animal had fully retractible claws, plantigrade feet, lacked strong supination capabilities in its paws, notably robust forelimbs compared to the hindlimbs, and was probably an ambush predator.


title: Smilodon

text: The heel bone of "Smilodon" was fairly long, which suggests it was a good jumper. Its well-developed flexor and extensor muscles in its forearms probably enabled it to pull down, and securely hold down, large prey. Analysis of the cross-sections of "S. fatalis" humeri indicated that they were strengthened by cortical thickening to such an extent that they would have been able to sustain greater loading than those of extant big cats, or of the extinct American lion. The thickening of "S. fatalis" femurs was within the range of extant felids. Its canines were fragile and could not have bitten into bone; due to the risk of breaking, these cats had to subdue and restrain their prey with their powerful forelimbs before they could use their canine teeth, and likely used quick slashing or stabbing bites rather than the slow, suffocating bites typically used by modern cats. On rare occasions, as evidenced by fossils, "Smilodon" was willing to risk biting into bone with its canines. This may have been focused more towards competition such as other "Smilodon" or potential threats such as other carnivores than on prey.


title: Smilodon

text: Debate continues as to how "Smilodon" killed its prey. Traditionally, the most popular theory is that the cat delivered a deep stabbing bite or open-jawed stabbing thrust to the throat, killing the prey very quickly. Another hypothesis suggests that "Smilodon" targeted the belly of its prey. This is disputed, as the curvature of their prey's belly would likely have prevented the cat from getting a good bite or stab. In regard to how "Smilodon" delivered its bite, the "canine shear-bite" hypothesis has been favored, where flexion of the neck and rotation of the skull assisted in biting the prey, but this may be mechanically impossible. However, evidence from comparisons with "Homotherium" suggest that "Smilodon" was fully capable of and utilized the canine shear-bite as its primary means of killing prey, based on the fact that it had a thick skull and relatively little trabecular bone, while "Homotherium" had both more trabecular bone and a more lion-like clamping bite as its primary means of attacking prey. The discovery, made by Figueirido and Lautenschlager "et al.," published in 2020 suggests extremely different ecological adaptations in both machairodonts. The mandibular flanges may have helped resist bending forces when the mandible was pulled against the hide of a prey animal.


title: Smilodon

text: The protruding incisors were arranged in an arch, and were used to hold the prey still and stabilize it while the canine bite was delivered. The contact surface between the canine crown and the gum was enlarged, which helped stabilize the tooth and helped the cat sense when the tooth had penetrated to its maximum extent. Since saber-toothed cats generally had a relatively large infraorbital foramen (opening) in the skull, which housed nerves associated with the whiskers, it has been suggested the improved senses would have helped the cats' precision when biting outside their field of vision, and thereby prevent breakage of the canines. The blade-like carnassial teeth were used to cut skin to access the meat, and the reduced molars suggest that they were less adapted for crushing bones than modern cats. As the food of modern cats enters the mouth through the side while cutting with the carnassials, not the front incisors between the canines, the animals do not need to gape widely, so the canines of "Smilodon" would likewise not have been a hindrance when feeding. A study published in 2022 of how machairodonts fed revealed that wear patterns on the teeth of "S. fatalis" also suggest that it was capable of eating bone to a similar extent as lions. This and comparisons with bite marks left by the contemporary machairodont "Xenosmilus" suggest that "Smilodon" and its relatives could efficiently de-flesh a carcass of meat when feeding without being hindered by their long canines.


title: Smilodon

text: Despite being more powerfully built than other large cats, "Smilodon" had a weaker bite. Modern big cats have more pronounced zygomatic arches, while these were smaller in "Smilodon", which restricted the thickness and therefore power of the temporalis muscles and thus reduced "Smilodon"s bite force. Analysis of its narrow jaws indicates that it could produce a bite only a third as strong as that of a lion (the bite force quotient measured for the lion is 112). There seems to be a general rule that the saber-toothed cats with the largest canines had proportionally weaker bites. Analyses of canine bending strength (the ability of the canine teeth to resist bending forces without breaking) and bite forces indicate that the saber-toothed cats' teeth were stronger relative to the bite force than those of modern big cats. In addition, "Smilodon" gape could have reached over 110 degrees, while that of the modern lion reaches 65 degrees. This made the gape wide enough to allow "Smilodon" to grasp large prey despite the long canines. A 2018 study compared the killing behavior of "Smilodon fatalis" and "Homotherium serum", and found that the former had a strong skull with little trabecular bone for a stabbing canine-shear bite, whereas the latter had more trabecular bone and used a clamp and hold style more similar to lions. The two would therefore have held distinct ecological niches.


title: Smilodon

text: Many "Smilodon" specimens have been excavated from asphalt seeps that acted as natural carnivore traps. Animals were accidentally trapped in the seeps and became bait for predators that came to scavenge, but these were then trapped themselves. The best-known of such traps are at La Brea in Los Angeles, which have produced over 166,000 "Smilodon fatalis" specimens that form the largest collection in the world. The sediments of the pits there were accumulated 40,000 to 10,000 years ago, in the Late Pleistocene. Though the trapped animals were buried quickly, predators often managed to remove limb bones from them, but they were themselves often trapped and then scavenged by other predators; 90% of the excavated bones belonged to predators.


title: Smilodon

text: The Talara Tar Seeps in Peru represent a similar scenario, and have also produced fossils of "Smilodon". Unlike in La Brea, many of the bones were broken or show signs of weathering. This may have been because the layers were shallower, so the thrashing of trapped animals damaged the bones of previously trapped animals. Many of the carnivores at Talara were juveniles, possibly indicating that inexperienced and less fit animals had a greater chance of being trapped. Though Lund thought accumulations of "Smilodon" and herbivore fossils in the Lagoa Santa Caves were due to the cats using the caves as dens, these are probably the result of animals dying on the surface, and water currents subsequently dragging their bones to the floor of the cave, but some individuals may also have died after becoming lost in the caves.


title: Smilodon

text: Scientists debate whether "Smilodon" was social. One study of African predators found that social predators like lions and spotted hyenas respond more to the distress calls of prey than solitary species. Since "S. fatalis" fossils are common at the La Brea Tar Pits, and were likely attracted by the distress calls of stuck prey, this could mean that this species was social as well. One critical study claims that the study neglects other factors, such as body mass (heavier animals are more likely to get stuck than lighter ones), intelligence (some social animals, like the American lion, may have avoided the tar because they were better able to recognize the hazard), lack of visual and olfactory lures, the type of audio lure, and the length of the distress calls (the actual distress calls of the trapped prey animals would have lasted longer than the calls used in the study). The author of that study ponders what predators would have responded if the recordings were played in India, where the otherwise solitary tigers are known to aggregate around a single carcass. The authors of the original study responded that though effects of the calls in the tar pits and the playback experiments would not be identical, this would not be enough to overturn their conclusions. In addition, they stated that weight and intelligence would not likely affect the results as lighter carnivores are far more numerous than heavy herbivores and the social (and seemingly intelligent) dire wolf is also found in the pits.


title: Smilodon

text: Another argument for sociality is based on the healed injuries in several "Smilodon" fossils, which would suggest that the animals needed others to provide them food. This argument has been questioned, as cats can recover quickly from even severe bone damage and an injured "Smilodon" could survive if it had access to water. However, a "Smilodon" suffering hip dysplasia at a young age that survived to adulthood suggests that it could not have survived to adulthood without aid from a social group, as this individual was unable to hunt or defend its territory due to the severity of its congenital issue. The brain of "Smilodon" was relatively small compared to other cat species. Some researchers have argued that "Smilodon" brain would have been too small for it to have been a social animal. An analysis of brain size in living big cats found no correlation between brain size and sociality. Another argument against "Smilodon" being social is that being an ambush hunter in closed habitat would likely have made group-living unnecessary, as in most modern cats. Yet it has also been proposed that being the largest predator in an environment comparable to the savanna of Africa, "Smilodon" may have had a social structure similar to modern lions, which possibly live in groups primarily to defend optimal territory from other lions (lions are the only social big cats today).


title: Smilodon

text: Whether "Smilodon" was sexually dimorphic has implications for its reproductive behavior. Based on their conclusions that "Smilodon fatalis" had no sexual dimorphism, Van Valkenburgh and Sacco suggested in 2002 that, if the cats were social, they would likely have lived in monogamous pairs (along with offspring) with no intense competition among males for females. Likewise, Meachen-Samuels and Binder concluded in 2010 that aggression between males was less pronounced in "S. fatalis" than in the American lion. Christiansen and Harris found in 2012 that, as "S. fatalis" did exhibit some sexual dimorphism, there would have been evolutionary selection for competition between males. Some bones show evidence of having been bitten by other "Smilodon", possibly the result of territorial battles, competition for breeding rights or over prey. Two "S. populator" skulls from Argentina show seemingly fatal, unhealed wounds which appear to have been caused by the canines of another "Smilodon" (though it cannot be ruled out they were caused by kicking prey). If caused by intraspecific fighting, it may also indicate that they had social behavior which could lead to death, as seen in some modern felines (as well as indicating that the canines could penetrate bone). It has been suggested that the exaggerated canines of saber-toothed cats evolved for sexual display and competition, but a statistical study of the correlation between canine and body size in "S. populator" found no difference in scaling between body and canine size concluded it was more likely they evolved solely for a predatory function.


title: Smilodon

text: A set of three associated skeletons of "S. fatalis" found in Ecuador and described in 2021 by Reynolds, Seymour, and Evans suggests that there was prolonged parental care in "Smilodon". The two subadult individuals uncovered share a unique inherited trait in their dentaries, suggesting they were siblings; a rare instance of familial relationships being found in the fossil record. The subadult specimens are also hypothesized to have been male and female, respectively, while the adult skeletal remains found at the site are believed to have belonged to their mother. The subadults were estimated to have been around two years of age at the time of their deaths, but were still growing. The structure of the hyoid bones suggest that "Smilodon" could roar like modern big cats, which may have implications for their social life.


title: Smilodon

text: "Smilodon" started developing its adult saber-teeth when the animal reached between 12 and 19 months of age, shortly after the completion of the eruption of the cat's baby teeth. Both baby and adult canines would be present side by side in the mouth for an approximately 11-month period, and the muscles used in making the powerful bite were developed at about one-and-a-half years old as well, eight months earlier than in a modern lion. After "Smilodon" reached 23 to 30 months of age, the infant teeth were shed while the adult canines grew at an average growth rate of per month during a 12-month period. They reached their full size at around 3 years of age, later than modern species of big cats. Juvenile and adolescent "Smilodon" specimens are extremely rare at Rancho La Brea, where the study was performed, indicating that they remained hidden or at denning sites during hunts, and depended on parental care while their canines were developing.


title: Smilodon

text: A 2017 study indicates that juveniles were born with a robust build similar to the adults. Comparison of the bones of juvenile "S. fatalis" specimens from La Brea with those of the contemporaneous American lion revealed that the two cats shared a similar growth curve. Felid forelimb development during ontogeny (changes during growth) has remained tightly constrained. The curve is similar to that for modern cats such as tigers and cougars, but shifts more towards the robust direction of the axes than is seen in modern felids. Examinations by Reynolds, Seymour, and Evans (2021) suggest that "Smilodon" had a unique and fast growth rate similar to a tiger, but that there was a prolonged period of growth in the genus similar to what is seen in lions, and that the cubs were reliant on their parents until this growth period ended.


title: Smilodon

text: Several "Smilodon" fossils show signs of ankylosing spondylitis, hyperostosis and trauma. One study of 1,000 "Smilodon" skulls found that 36% of them had eroded parietal bones, which is where the largest jaw muscles attach. They also showed signs of microfractures, and the weakening and thinning of bones possibly caused by mechanical stress from the constant need to make stabbing motions with the canines. Bony growths where the deltoid muscle inserted in the humerus is a common pathology for a La Brea specimen, which was probably due to repeated strain when "Smilodon" attempted to pull down prey with its forelimbs. Sternum injuries are also common, probably due to collision with prey. The frequency of trauma in "S. fatalis" specimens was 4.3%, compared to 2.8% in the dire wolf, which implies the ambush predatory behavior of the former led to greater risk of injury than the pursuit predatory behavior of the latter. "Smilodon" remains exhibit relatively more shoulder and lumbar vertebrae injuries.


title: Smilodon

text: "Smilodon" lived during the Pleistocene epoch (2.5 mya–10,000 years ago), and was perhaps the most recent of the saber-toothed cats. It probably lived in closed habitat such as forest or bush. Fossils of the genus have been found throughout the Americas. The northernmost remains of the genus are "S. fatalis" fossils from Alberta, Canada. The habitat of North America varied from subtropical forests and savannah in the south, to treeless mammoth steppes in the north. The mosaic vegetation of woods, shrubs, and grasses in southwestern North America supported large herbivores such as horses, bison, antelope, deer, camels, mammoths, mastodons, and ground sloths. North America also supported other saber-toothed cats, such as "Homotherium" and "Xenosmilus", as well as other large carnivores including dire wolves, short-faced bear ("Arctodus simus") and the American lion. Competition from such carnivores may have prevented North American "S. fatalis" from attaining the size of South America's "S. populator". The similarity in size of "S. fatalis" and the American lion suggests niche overlap and direct competition between these species, and they appear to have fed on similarly sized prey.


title: Smilodon

text: "S. gracilis" entered South America during the early to middle Pleistocene, where it probably gave rise to "S. populator", which lived in the eastern part of the continent. "S. fatalis" also entered western South America in the late Pleistocene, and the two species were thought to be divided by the Andes mountains. However, in 2018, a skull of "S. fatalis" found in Uruguay east of the Andes was reported, which puts the idea that the two species were allopatric (geographically separated) into question. The American interchange resulted in a mix of native and invasive species sharing the prairies and woodlands in South America; North American herbivores included proboscideans, horses, camelids and deer, South American herbivores included toxodonts, litopterns, ground sloths, and glyptodonts. Native metatherian predators (including the saber-toothed thylacosmilids) had gone extinct by the Pliocene, and were replaced by North American carnivores such as canids, bears, and large cats.


title: Smilodon

text: "S. populator" was very successful, while "Homotherium" never became widespread in South America. The extinction of the thylacosmilids has been attributed to competition with "Smilodon", but this is probably incorrect, as they seem to have disappeared before the arrival of the large cats. The phorusrhacid "terror birds" may have dominated the large predator niche in South America until "Smilodon" arrived. "S. populator" may have been able to reach larger size than "S. fatalis" due to a lack of competition in Pleistocene South America; "S. populator" arrived after the extinction of "Arctotherium angustidens", one of the largest carnivores ever, and could therefore assume the niche of mega-carnivore. "S. populator" preferred large prey from open habitats such as grassland and plains, based on evidence gathered from isotope ratios that determined the animal's diet. In this way, the South American "Smilodon" species was probably similar to the modern lion. "S. populator" probably competed with the canid "Protocyon" there, but not with the jaguar, which fed primarily on smaller prey.


title: Smilodon

text: Along with most of the Pleistocene megafauna, "Smilodon" became extinct 10,000 years ago in the Quaternary extinction event. Its extinction has been linked to the decline and extinction of large herbivores, which were replaced by smaller and more agile ones like deer. Hence, "Smilodon" could have been too specialized at hunting large prey and may have been unable to adapt. A 2012 study of "Smilodon" tooth wear found no evidence that they were limited by food resources. Other explanations include climate change and competition with "Homo sapiens" (who entered the Americas around the time "Smilodon" disappeared), or a combination of several factors, all of which apply to the general Pleistocene extinction event, rather than specifically to the extinction of the saber-toothed cats.


title: Smilodon

text: Writers of the first half of the twentieth century theorized that the last saber-toothed cats, "Smilodon" and "Homotherium", became extinct through competition with the faster and more generalized felids that replaced them. It was even proposed that the saber-toothed predators were inferior to modern cats, as the ever-growing canines were thought to inhibit their owners from feeding properly. Yet fast felids, such as the American lion and the American cheetah ("Miracinonyx"), also became extinct during the Late Pleistocene. The fact that saber-teeth evolved many times in unrelated lineages also attests to the success of this feature.


title: Smilodon

text: The latest "Smilodon fatalis" specimen recovered from the Rancho La Brea tar pits has been dated to 13,025 years ago.


title: Smilodon

text: The latest "Smilodon populator" remains found in the cave of Cueva del Medio, near the town of Soria, northeast Última Esperanza Province, Magallanes Region in southernmost Chile have been dated to 10,935–11,209 years ago. The most recent carbon-14 date for "S. fatalis" reported was 10,200 years BP for remains from the First American Cave in 1971; however, the most recent "credible" date has been given as 11,130 BP.


title: George Ezra

text: George Ezra Barnett (born 7 June 1993) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. After releasing two EPs, "Did You Hear the Rain?" (2013) and "Cassy O'" (2014), Ezra rose to prominence with the release of his hit single, "Budapest", which reached number one in several countries. His debut studio album, "Wanted on Voyage," was released in June 2014, reaching number one in the UK and the top ten in seven other countries. It was also the third-best-selling album of 2014 in the UK.


title: George Ezra

text: Ezra's second studio album, "Staying at Tamara's", was released in March 2018 and reached number one in the UK and the top ten in eight other countries. The second single from the album, "Paradise", reached number two in the UK, while the next single, "Shotgun", reached number one, becoming Ezra's first chart-topping single in the UK, Ireland and Australia. In February 2019, he won the Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist. Ezra released his third studio album, "Gold Rush Kid", in June 2022.


title: George Ezra

text: George Ezra Barnett was born on 7 June 1993 in Hertford, Hertfordshire. His parents were teachers, with his father, Paul, teaching at Barnwell School in Stevenage. Barnett attended primary school in Bengeo and then Simon Balle School. He studied at Hertford Regional College. He moved to Bristol in 2011 to study songwriting at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. Ezra has an elder sister named Jessica who accompanies him on tour, and a younger brother named Ethan who is also a singer and songwriter under the stage name Ten Tonnes.


title: George Ezra

text: In June 2013, Ezra played the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury Festival. He released his debut EP "Did You Hear the Rain?" in October 2013. In late 2013, he received airplay on BBC Radio 1, with songs "Did You Hear the Rain?" and "Budapest" regularly featured. He was included in MTV's Brand New for 2014, Vevo's 'DSCVR Ones to Watch 2014' and iTunes' new artists 2014. Ezra was longlisted for the BBC Sound of... 2014, where he eventually finished in fifth place.


title: George Ezra

text: "Budapest" reached number six in Italy and was certified platinum by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry. He has played support spots for Lianne La Havas, Bastille, Sam Smith and Tom Odell. In March 2014 he released his second EP, "Cassy O'". "Budapest" was released in the UK on 13 June, followed by his debut album, "Wanted on Voyage", on 30 June. On 6 July, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number three. The album has also charted in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand. On 5 October, 14 weeks after its initial release, "Wanted on Voyage" went to number one in the UK. In December 2014 the album had sold 678,156 copies in the UK. In January 2015 it was named the third best-selling album of 2014 in the UK after "x" by Ed Sheeran and "In the Lonely Hour" by Sam Smith. On 4 January 2015, the album reclaimed the number one spot in the UK.


title: George Ezra

text: On 10 August 2014, Ezra was a support act for Robert Plant at the Glastonbury Extravaganza. In October 2014, Ezra released a video for "Listen to the Man", which featured Ian McKellen. At the 2015 Brit Awards, Ezra was nominated for four Brit Awards: Best British Album, Best British Male Solo Artist, Best British Single, and British Breakthrough Artist.


title: George Ezra

text: In early 2015, Ezra opened for Sam Smith for 16 dates on Smith's In the Lonely Hour Tour across North America. Later, he toured with Irish musician Hozier for select dates on his sold-out 2015 North American tour.


title: George Ezra

text: Before Ezra's rise to fame, he created a word, "petax" (pronounced: "pay-tax"), to help him to bond with his fans, encouraging them to use it during everyday life. It is commonly used on Twitter and on tour; he has started selling merchandise with the word printed on it. In an interview in Boston in March 2015, he admitted that this "petax" word-creation is a blank nonsense: "It's a word I made up, me and my friends. It could be good or bad or anything, it was just a word that… we were 18, we were idiots – but it's kind of lived on."


title: George Ezra

text: On 28 March 2015, Ezra was the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live". He appeared on U.S. television again a few weeks later, performing "Budapest" on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" on 13 April. On 24 May, Ezra appeared at Radio 1's Big Weekend at Norwich, Norfolk with a set that included his hit songs including "Blame It on Me", "Budapest" and "Cassy O".


title: George Ezra

text: On 31 July 2015, Ezra performed at the Osheaga Festival in Montreal. On 11 November 2015, he performed "Blame It on Me" on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert".


title: George Ezra

text: On 3 April 2017, Ezra announced a "top secret", 10 date UK and Ireland tour, in which it was announced that he would premiere new material. Starting on 26 May at Limelight in Belfast, the tour made its way through shows in Derry (27 May), Dublin (29 May), Limerick (30 May), Rhyl (1 June), Cardiff (2 June), Swansea (3 June), Barnstaple (5 June), and Exeter (6 June) before finally concluding on 7 June at The Forum in Bath.


title: George Ezra

text: "Don't Matter Now" was released on 16 June as the lead track of the album "Staying at Tamara's". "Paradise" was released as the second single on 19 January 2018, with an accompanying music video released the following week on 24 January. "Shotgun" was released as a digital download on 18 May 2018 and went on to become Ezra's first number-one song in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, and was awarded a platinum certification. "Staying at Tamara's" was released on 23 March 2018. Ezra performed as one of the main headliners for Neighbourhood Weekender 2019, which was held in Warrington on 25 May 2019. He was the last act on the main stage on the first day of the two-day festival. He performed a variety of songs from his albums including hits "Blame It On Me", "Budapest" and "Barcelona"; his final song of the set was "Shotgun". Ezra also performed at Glastonbury 2019 on July 26, 2019, as the second to last set on the Pyramid stage.


title: George Ezra

text: On 12 January 2022, Ezra launched a new website by the name of 'Gold Rush Kid', which was a holding page for his third record. "Anyone for You (Tiger Lily)" was released on 28 January as the first single from the album "Gold Rush Kid".


title: George Ezra

text: Ezra covered Mimi Webb's "House on Fire" during a BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge performance, in addition to performing his new single "Green Green Grass" on 19 May.


title: George Ezra

text: The follow-up to 2018's "Staying at Tamara's" was released on 10 June via Columbia, and was written and produced entirely in London by Ezra and his longstanding collaborator Joel Pott. Ezra also performed at the Platinum Party at the Palace to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee in June 2022.


title: George Ezra

text: Ezra cites Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie and James Baylin as his main musical influences. "The Financial Times" described it as music that "approximates rock… but without any hint of danger, or unpredictability". "When the Gramophone Rings" described him as having "a voice beyond his years", with "a soulful tone that somehow would feel more at home coming from an Alabama bartender than a 21-year-old Bristolian". Zane Lowe, a former BBC Radio 1 DJ, called him "one of the most compelling and powerful new vocalists around".


title: George Ezra

text: A youthful obsession with Dylan prompted Ezra to seek out earlier American folk and blues artists. "Out of curiosity, I went to find how high I can jump off a cliff", he said. "That's when I found Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie and Howlin' Wolf." Ezra had heard a Lead Belly compilation and had simply tried to sing like him. "On the back of the record, it said his voice was so big, you had to turn your record player down", Ezra said. "I liked the idea of singing with a big voice, so I tried it, and I could."


title: George Ezra

text: On 12 February 2018, Ezra released the first episode of his podcast "George Ezra & Friends", a show that typically ranges from 45 minutes to an hour and a half during which he talks to other artists. The series began with guest Ed Sheeran on 12 February 2018. Ezra's inspiration for the podcast was listening to other podcasts featuring "comedians chatting with other comedians". Subsequent guests were Rag'n'Bone Man, Hannah Reid, Craig David, Ben Thatcher, Giles Martin, Declan McKenna, Jessie Ware, Justin Young, Sam Smith, Lily Allen and Sir Elton John. The second series began on 19 November 2018 with guest Niall Horan. Subsequent guests so far are Ellie Goulding, Laurie Vincent, Sigrid, Olly Alexander, Nile Rodgers, Leif Vollebekk, Sir Tom Jones, Lewis Capaldi and Shania Twain.


title: George Ezra

text: Some time after the release of his first album, Ezra met and later began dating Florrie Arnold; however, the relationship ended after three years. Ezra has stated he suffers from Pure O, a form of obsessive compulsive disorder that consists of obsessions and anxiety with purely mental, not physical, compulsions. During lockdown, he took up Transcendental Meditation (TM). He explained: "TM is a kind of meditation for me. It's just 20 minutes of eyes closed, and you repeat a word, a mantra. Oftentimes I don't get many times through the mantra, I just think about all sorts of nonsense, but it's 20 minutes of stopping, which is good."


title: Mia Sara

text: Mia Sarapochiello (born June 19, 1967), known professionally as Mia Sara, is a retired American actress. She made her debut starring as Princess Lili in the fantasy film "Legend" (1985), and had her breakthrough starring as Sloane Peterson in the comedy film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986). She also portrayed Melissa Walker in the science fiction film "Timecop" (1994), which won her the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress.


title: Mia Sara

text: Sara was born Mia Sarapochiello in Brooklyn Heights, New York. She is the daughter of Diana, a stylist and photographer, and Jerome Sarapochiello, a photographer and artist. She was born into the Roman Catholic tradition and is of Italian descent. She attended St. Ann's School, in Brooklyn, New York.


title: Mia Sara

text: Sara's debut role was Princess Lili in Ridley Scott's 1985 fairy-tale film "Legend", alongside Tom Cruise. Playing the role of Ferris Bueller's girlfriend, Sloane Peterson, in the 1986 blockbuster film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" made her even more popular. She also appeared in the 1987 miniseries "Queenie", a roman à clef on actress Merle Oberon, as well as 1992's "A Stranger Among Us", directed by Sidney Lumet. In 1994, she starred opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in the blockbuster "Timecop", for which she won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also played the part of Molly Connor in "The Impossible Elephant" (2001). Her television roles have included Annie Knox in the science fiction series "Time Trax" (1993–94) and Dr. Harleen Quinzel in the short-lived WB Network series "Birds of Prey" (2002–03).


title: Mia Sara

text: In March 1996, Sara married Jason Connery, son of Sean Connery, with whom she performed in "Bullet to Beijing". In June 1997, they had a son, Dashiell Quinn Connery. The couple divorced in 2002.


title: Mia Sara

text: In 2001, Sara acted in "," directed by Brian Henson, eldest son of Muppets creator Jim Henson. In 2005, they had a daughter, Amelia Jane Henson. Sara and Henson married in 2010.


title: Mark Hoppus

text: Mark Allan Hoppus (born March 15, 1972) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist for the rock band Blink-182, being the only constant member and the only one to appear on every album. He is also part of pop rock duo Simple Creatures with All Time Low frontman Alex Gaskarth.