title: Sergeant

text: In the Marine Corps, enlisted ranks above sergeant are referred to as staff non-commissioned officers, or SNCOs. These ranks, staff sergeant through sergeant major, are always referred to by their full rank and never merely as "sergeant".


title: Sergeant

text: Staff sergeant is usually the lowest enlisted rank that reports directly to an officer. In the infantry this would typically be as a rifle platoon sergeant or as a section leader in a weapons platoon (i.e., machine guns, mortars, anti-tank/assault weapons).


title: Sergeant

text: Infantry gunnery sergeants usually serve as platoon sergeants for weapons platoons before moving up to a company gunnery sergeant billet. This position is filled by an experienced gunnery sergeant who is typically in charge of coordinating operations, logistics, and individual training for a company-sized group of Marines (approximately 180 personnel). Owing to their involvement in the management of unit supply/re-supply the "Company Gunny" is colloquially known to be in charge of the "3 Bs": beans, bullets, and band-aids. Gunnery sergeants are commonly addressed as "gunny", but never officially. Use of this informality by subordinates is permitted solely at the rank holder's discretion.


title: Sergeant

text: Infantry master sergeants typically serve as the operations chief of a weapons company (in lieu of the Company Gunnery Sergeant located in the rifle companies) or as the assistant operations chief in the headquarters of an infantry regiment. Master sergeants are addressed as either "master sergeant" or "top" at the preference of the incumbent and dependent upon the commonly accepted practice within the MOS community. For example, in Intelligence (the 02 MOS field), use of "Top" is common; in the Infantry (the 03 MOS field) its use is nearly unheard of and aggressively discouraged.


title: Sergeant

text: First sergeants serve as the senior enlisted advisor (SEA) to a company or battery commander and are always addressed by their full rank title as "first sergeant". However, it is common for first sergeants to be referred to as "first shirt" by those under their command. Unlike "gunny" and even "top", a first sergeant is never addressed as "first shirt" directly.


title: Sergeant

text: Infantry master gunnery sergeants serve as the operations chief in the headquarters of an infantry battalion or higher level organization (viz., Marine Expeditionary Unit, regiment, Marine Expeditionary Brigade, division, Marine Expeditionary Force) and follow the same verbal address protocol as master sergeants but are commonly referred to as "master guns", or "master gunny".


title: Sergeant

text: Sergeants major serve as the SEA to a battalion or squadron, or higher level, commander, and are always addressed by their full rank title as "sergeant major".


title: Sergeant

text: The history of the rank of sergeant in the USMC roughly parallels that of the US Army until 1942. From 1775 until WWII the Marine Corps used essentially the same rank and organizational structure as its common British and colonial forbearers with the Army, as well as the later Continental and U.S. Armies. In 1942, as the Army modified its triangular-division infantry organization to best fight in the European/North African/Middle Eastern theatre, the Marine Corps began modifying the triangular-division plan to best employ its amphibious-warfare doctrine in the Pacific Theatre. This meant that for the Corps, squad leaders would remain as sergeants and the rifle squad would be sub-divided into three 4-man fire teams, each led by a corporal.


title: Sergeant

text: The U.S. Air Force title "sergeant" (E-4, equivalent to an Army or Marine corporal and Navy/Coast Guard petty officer third class), commonly and informally referred to as "buck sergeant", was used beginning in October 1967 in the hope that the prestige of being an NCO would increase the re-enlistment rate. The title was phased out again in the 1990s.


title: Sergeant

text: From 1952 through October 1967, E4s were titled "Airman First Class" (A/1c) and there was no rank titled "sergeant", though A/1cs were often called "sarge" or "sergeant" informally. During the period when the E4 title was "sergeant", senior airmen, earlier known as airmen second class (A/2c, pay grade E3), were promoted to sergeant and granted non-commissioned officer status after 12 months time in grade; this lateral promotion is no longer conferred and senior airmen compete directly for promotion to staff sergeant. The current title for airmen at the E4 grade is "senior airman". From 1976 – 1995, senior airman rank insignia had a subdued central star (light blue vice silver for sergeant and above), as did airman first class (E3) and airman (E2). Airman Basic, E1, has no rank insignia.


title: Sergeant

text: In today's Air Force, the term sergeant refers to all Air Force non-commissioned officers up to the rank of senior master sergeant (E-8). An Airman who has achieved the rank of senior master sergeant (E-8) may also be referred to as "senior". An airman who has achieved the rank of chief master sergeant (E-9) is referred to as "chief". Those in the grade of staff sergeant (E-5) and technical sergeant (E-6) are referred to as non-commissioned officers, while those in the grade of master sergeant (E-7) through chief master sergeant (E-9) are referred to as senior non-commissioned officers.


title: Sergeant

text: On February 1, 2021, the United States Space Force established the rank of sergeant for the paygrade E-5, replacing the rank of staff sergeant used in the Air Force. This aligned the Space Force's E-5 grade with the Army and Marine Corps, in which sergeants hold the grade of E-5 and staff sergeants hold the grade of E-6. In the Air Force, staff sergeants hold the grade of E-5 and the prior rank of sergeant was a non-commissioned officer in the grade of E-4, equivalent to the U.S. Army's corporal. Sergeants rank above specialist 4 but below technical sergeant.


title: Sergeant

text: In Vietnam People's Army, sergeant () is the second highest rank of non-commissioned officer. Sergeant is below master sergeant and above corporal.


title: Neetu Singh

text: Neetu Kapoor (born Harneet Kaur), is an Indian actress who is known for appearing in Hindi films throughout the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. In 2012, Singh was inducted into the Walk of the Stars, an entertainment hall of fame at Bandra bandstand in Mumbai.


title: Neetu Singh

text: Singh made her debut in the swashbuckler film "Suraj" (1966) and thereafter played a dual role in the romantic comedy "Do Kaliyaan" (1968). She began her transition to mature roles with the vigilante film "Rickshawala" (1973) and had her breakthrough with Nasir Hussain's masala film "Yaadon Ki Baaraat" (1973), where she appeared as a dancer. She rose to prominence with roles in the crime drama film "Deewaar" (1975), the thriller film "Khel Khel Mein" (1975), the musical film "Kabhi Kabhie" (1976), the masala film "Amar Akbar Anthony" (1977) and the fantasy film "Dharam Veer" (1977). Her performances in the crime drama film "Parvarish" (1977), the horror film "Jaani Dushman" (1979), the disaster film "Kaala Patthar" (1979) and the musical film "Yaarana" (1981) were praised, and for "Kaala Patthar", she was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.


title: Neetu Singh

text: In 1980, she married actor Rishi Kapoor, with whom she had two children, including the actor Ranbir Kapoor. She went on a hiatus after appearing in the thriller film "Ganga Meri Maa" (1983). Nearly three decades later, she made her acting comeback with a minor role "Love Aaj Kal" (2009). She has since led the comedy film "Do Dooni Chaar" (2010) which won her a Zee Cine Award, the action film "Besharam" (2013), and made a guest appearance in the romantic drama "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" (2012). In 2020, she starred in the film "Jugjugg Jeeyo" (2022).


title: Neetu Singh

text: Singh was born as Harneet Kaur in New Delhi to Punjabi Jat Sikh parents, Darshan Singh and Rajee Kaur Singh. She began acting as a child artist shortly after her father's death.


title: Neetu Singh

text: Singh entered films as an uncredited child artist in "Suraj" (1966) starring Vyjayanthimala and Rajendra Kumar. This was followed by appearances in other top-grossing films like "Dus Lakh" (1966), "Do Kaliyaan" (1968), and "Waris" (1969). She was particularly appreciated for playing the double role of twin sisters in "Do Kaliyaan". In most of these films, she was credited as Baby Sonia.


title: Neetu Singh

text: In 1973, she played her first lead role in "Rickshawala" opposite Randhir Kapoor. The film was a remake of the Tamil film "Rickshawkaran" (1971), but failed to match the success of this film. Later that year, however, Singh garnered mainstream attention for her appearance in a popular song “Lekar Hum Deewana Dil” from Nasir Hussain’s blockbuster film "Yaadon Ki Baaraat" (1973).


title: Neetu Singh

text: The romantic films "Rafoo Chakkar" (1975) and "Khel Khel Mein" (1975) established her and Rishi Kapoor as a popular on-screen pair, and they were subsequently cast in several more films together. "Khel Khel Mein" in particular was propelled by the success of R.D. Burman’s soundtrack. She gained further commercial success in "Shankar Dada" (1976) opposite Shashi Kapoor and "Maha Chor" (1976) opposite Rajesh Khanna.


title: Neetu Singh

text: Her two most prominent films in this time period were "Deewaar" (1975) and "Kabhi Kabhie" (1976), both ensemble films directed by leading filmmaker Yash Chopra. In the action drama "Deewaar", she played the vivacious love interest to Shashi Kapoor. The ensemble musical romantic drama "Kabhi Kabhie", which featured her as an adoptee determined to find her birth mother, was one of the most acclaimed films of that time and continues to be remembered today for its soundtrack by Khayyam and Sahir Ludhianvi.


title: Neetu Singh

text: Singh’s most successful release of 1977 was "Amar Akbar Anthony", directed by veteran filmmaker Manmohan Desai, in which she played a young doctor in love with a singer played by Rishi Kapoor. In the same year, Desai also cast her in the adventure film "Dharam Veer" opposite Jeetendra and the crime drama "Parvarish" opposite Amitabh Bachchan. All three of these films ranked among the top five highest-grossing films of the year, with "Amar Akbar Anthony" taking the top spot.


title: Neetu Singh

text: For the next few years, Singh achieved success as the solo female lead in films like "Priyatama" (1977), "Maha Badmaash" (1977), "Dhongee" (1979), and "Chorni" (1982). She was also featured in a number of popular ensemble films like "Adalat" (1977), "Kasme Vaade" (1978), "Jaani Dushman" (1979), "Kaala Patthar" (1979), "The Burning Train" (1980), "Yaarana" (1981), and "Teesri Aankh" (1982). In these films, her most successful associations were with actors like Jeetendra, Amitabh Bachchan, and Randhir Kapoor. For Yash Chopra's "Kaala Patthar", she earned her first Filmfare Award nomination.


title: Neetu Singh

text: After her marriage in 1980, she retired from acting. Her last film to be released was "Ganga Meri Maa" (1983). 25 years later, Singh was seen in a cameo appearance in Imtiaz Ali’s "Love Aaj Kal" (2009).


title: Neetu Singh

text: Singh's first lead role post-retirement was that of a middle-class Punjabi mother in Habib Faisal’s "Do Dooni Chaar" (2010), which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. She then made a special appearance in Yash Chopra’s final film "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" (2012), and also co-starred with her son Ranbir Kapoor in the unsuccessful comedy "Besharam" (2013). In all four of these films, she was paired opposite her husband Rishi Kapoor. After 9 years, she ended her hiatus by starring opposite Anil Kapoor in "Jug Jugg Jeeyo" , also starring Varun Dhawan, Kiara Advani and Prajakta Koli.


title: Neetu Singh

text: During production of the film "Kabhie Kabhie", Singh and actor Rishi Kapoor became romantically involved off-screen. The pair married on 22 January 1980. The couple have two children, Riddhima Kapoor Sahni (born 15 September 1980) and Ranbir Kapoor (born 28 September 1982). Riddhima is a fashion designer who married Delhi-based industrialist Bharat Sahni on 25 January 2006. Through Riddhima, they have a granddaughter, Samara Sahni (born 23 March 2011). Ranbir is an Indian actor who married actress Alia Bhatt on 14 April 2022. Through Ranbir, they have a granddaughter, Raha Kapoor (born 6 November 2022).


title: Neetu Singh

text: Following a recurring battle with leukemia and treatment in New York City, Rishi Kapoor died on 30 April 2020. During the filming of "Jug Jugg Jeeyo", she tested positive for COVID-19 in Chandigarh in December 2020. However, she recovered after an isolation period, returning to the film's sets in early January 2021.


title: Neetu Singh

text: Singh was inducted into the Walk of the Stars, an entertainment hall of fame at Bandra bandstand in Mumbai, where her hand print was preserved for posterity under her married name Neetu Kapoor.


title: Proof (rapper)

text: DeShaun Dupree Holton (October 2, 1973 – April 11, 2006), known professionally as Proof, was an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. During his career, he was a member of the groups 5 Elementz, Funky Cowboys, Promatic, Goon Sqwad, and D12. He was a close childhood friend of rapper Eminem, who also lived in Detroit. Proof was often a hype man at Eminem's concerts.


title: Proof (rapper)

text: DeShaun Dupree Holton was born to Sharallene "Pepper" Holton, a single mother. His father, McKinley Jackson, was a music producer who left to pursue his career prior to Holton's birth. DeShaun was close friends with Eminem from a young age.


title: Proof (rapper)

text: Originally known as Maximum, under the moniker "Proof", Holton first rose to national prominence when he formed D12 "The Dirty Dozen" in 1995 with his friends Eminem, Bizarre, Mr. Porter, and a high school friend Eye-Kyu. Shortly after that, Proof recruited two friends, B-Flat & Dirty Ratt, to the group. This created the first lineup of Proof's supergroup D12. Eventually this first incarnation of the group back in early 1996 because the original members of D12, Eye-Kyu, B-Flat, and Dirty Ratt, were more focused on recording music with their other groups. Bizarre, Denaun, and Eminem, could not make it to the studio sessions because they were also working with their other groups. Proof decided to break up this version of the group in 1996. Proof later reformed the group in mid-1996. This time Proof called Bizarre and Eminem, since they were available. He also asked Denaun, who said he would not return to the group unless they recruit an affiliate and friend of the group, Kuniva. Proof allowed Denaun to put Kuniva in the group since all the members at the time were already friends with Kuniva . Then Bizarre decided one of Proof's friends, who was a rapper (from 6th Mile, Detroit) named MC Bugz, should be in the group. Bugz was also a childhood friend of B-Flat and Dirty Ratt, who had previously departed ways from D12. Early individual accomplishments included being featured in "The Source"'s "Unsigned Hype" column in 1999 and nearly winning the 1998 Blaze Battle. His first television appearance was in the video for Aaliyah's "Age Ain't Nothing But a Number".


title: Proof (rapper)

text: In 2000, Proof toured with Eminem, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and Snoop Dogg in the Up In Smoke Tour, performing as a hype man for Eminem. He gained further exposure in 2001 with the release of "Devil's Night", D12's debut album on Interscope Records. The following year, Proof collaborated with Dogmatic on "Promatic" and joined Eminem's "Anger Management" tour in support of the release. He appeared in the film "8 Mile" along with Eminem and Xzibit. Proof appeared as Lil' Tic, a freestyle rapper who rap battles the lead character, B-Rabbit, played by Eminem. To capitalize on the publicity from the film, Proof released a six-song EP called "Electric CoolAid Acid Testing". Proof also starred in a cameo role, alongside the rest of D12 (except for Eminem), in "The Longest Yard", appearing as "Basketball Convicts" during the credits.


title: Proof (rapper)

text: Proof released a solo album featuring collaborations with 50 Cent, Method Man, Nate Dogg, B-Real of Cypress Hill, T3 of Slum Village, Obie Trice, King Gordy, Eminem and D12. Proof said that he did not produce the record with Shady Records or Aftermath because he wanted to "build his own thing". Called "Searching for Jerry Garcia", the album was released on August 9, 2005, on his own Iron Fist Records label in conjunction with Alliance Entertainment's IDN Distribution, ten years to the day following Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia's death. It contained the prophetic song "Kurt Kobain" in which he wrote of his own death and 'passing the sign' to 1st Born as his protégé once he was gone. Proof has said that he considered Garcia to be a "genius" who suffered from common character flaws. Proof has stated his admiration for Garcia's eclectic style, saying that Garcia "went against the grain". Proof stated how he wanted to be remembered in an interview with SOHH.com shortly after his album release: "I want people to say that I was a true artist, that I did it best and stayed true to Hip Hop roots [...] I'd want people to understand I did it for the love, not for the charts." The album received favorable reviews, which commented on its "eclectic" and "introspective" nature. Despite its list of guest appearances and favorable reviews, the release did not make a significant impact on the charts.


title: Proof (rapper)

text: Proof also recorded a track, "How I Live," with Twiztid for their album "Independents Day" shortly before his death. Besides these, he recorded during his Gold Coast tour in 2006, which was exactly two weeks before his death, a song with "Liquidsilva" from Australia.


title: Proof (rapper)

text: On April 11, 2006, Proof was shot three times by Mario Etheridge, once in the head and twice in the chest, after a dispute broke out during a game of billiards at the CCC Club on 8 Mile Road in Detroit. A pool game between Proof and Keith Bender turned into a heated argument and then escalated into a physical altercation. Etheridge, who was Bender's cousin, fired a warning shot into the air. There have been many conflicting reports about Proof and Keith Bender's roles in the shooting, but it was reported that Proof then shot Bender in the head during the altercation. Bender was not immediately killed by the gunshot but died a week later from his injuries. In response to Proof shooting Bender, Etheridge then shot Proof three times, once in the head and twice in the chest, killing him at the scene. At the time of his death, Proof's blood alcohol content was 0.32, four times the legal DUI limit. Proof's lawyer, David Gorosh, accused the police and the media of being "reckless" for suggesting that his client fired the first shots without having any hard evidence. A few weeks after both men's death, Bender's family began a wrongful death suit against Proof's estate. Authorities determined that Etheridge was acting lawfully in defense of another; however, he was found guilty of carrying an illegal firearm and discharging it inside of a building.


title: Proof (rapper)

text: On April 19, 2006, a service for Proof was held in the Fellowship Chapel in Detroit to a full house of 2,660 people, including life-long friends Eminem, Royce Da 5'9, 50 Cent, and thousands more mourning outside. He was then buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.


title: Proof (rapper)

text: Seven months after Proof's death, his close friend Reginald "Mudd" Moore, who was with him at the nightclub where he was killed, gave an exclusive interview with "XXL" magazine where he told a different account of what happened that night. In Mudd's version of the events, Proof is portrayed neither as the instigator nor a cold-blooded killer. According to Mudd, the night started out with him and Proof and two of their friends barhopping. They arrived at the Triple C club at around 3:55am, where a fight between Keith Bender and Proof escalated over a pool game. The bouncer Mario Etheridge then pulled out his gun and fired two shots into the air to break the fight up, but instead the shots caused panic. Mudd went on to state that an intoxicated Proof pushed him out of the way, reached for his gun and fired once into the air. Keith Bender then came from behind and started attacking Proof, trying to get the weapon out of his hand. Etheridge then came over and started shooting in the direction of Proof and Bender, killing both men.


title: Proof (rapper)

text: In 2008, Welsh singer/songwriter Jem dedicated the song "You Will Make It" to the memory of Proof (listed under his birth name DeShaun Holton) on her second album "Down to Earth". In the liner notes, she said "For your families and friends and for all those who experienced the tragedy of sudden loss". In early 2009, Jem revealed "The track is about losing someone and I wrote it the day after his friend Proof was murdered. I was in Detroit with Eminem's friends, who I happened to be recording with, when it happened". Eminem eulogized his friend with the unreleased track "Difficult", which leaked to the public in 2010. Eminem further eulogized Proof on "Recovery" with "You're Never Over". Eminem has since mentioned Proof in a number of songs, including "Going Through Changes", "Deja Vu", "Walk on Water", "Believe", "Arose", "Stepping Stone", "Venom" and "Zeus".


title: Algae

text: Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular microalgae, such as "Chlorella," "Prototheca" and the diatoms, to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelp, a large brown alga which may grow up to in length. Most are aquatic and autotrophic (they generate food internally) and lack many of the distinct cell and tissue types, such as stomata, xylem and phloem that are found in land plants. The largest and most complex marine algae are called seaweeds, while the most complex freshwater forms are the "Charophyta", a division of green algae which includes, for example, "Spirogyra" and stoneworts.


title: Algae

text: No definition of algae is generally accepted. One definition is that algae "have chlorophyll "a" as their primary photosynthetic pigment and lack a sterile covering of cells around their reproductive cells". Likewise, the colorless "Prototheca" under "Chlorophyta" are all devoid of any chlorophyll. Although cyanobacteria are often referred to as "blue-green algae", most authorities exclude all prokaryotes from the definition of algae.


title: Algae

text: Algae constitute a polyphyletic group since they do not include a common ancestor, and although their plastids seem to have a single origin, from cyanobacteria, they were acquired in different ways. Green algae are examples of algae that have primary chloroplasts derived from endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. Diatoms and brown algae are examples of algae with secondary chloroplasts derived from an endosymbiotic red alga. Algae exhibit a wide range of reproductive strategies, from simple asexual cell division to complex forms of sexual reproduction.


title: Algae

text: Algae lack the various structures that characterize land plants, such as the phyllids (leaf-like structures) of bryophytes, rhizoids of nonvascular plants, and the roots, leaves, and other organs found in tracheophytes (vascular plants). Most are phototrophic, although some are mixotrophic, deriving energy both from photosynthesis and uptake of organic carbon either by osmotrophy, myzotrophy, or phagotrophy. Some unicellular species of green algae, many golden algae, euglenids, dinoflagellates, and other algae have become heterotrophs (also called colorless or apochlorotic algae), sometimes parasitic, relying entirely on external energy sources and have limited or no photosynthetic apparatus. Some other heterotrophic organisms, such as the apicomplexans, are also derived from cells whose ancestors possessed plastids, but are not traditionally considered as algae. Algae have photosynthetic machinery ultimately derived from cyanobacteria that produce oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis, unlike other photosynthetic bacteria such as purple and green sulfur bacteria. Fossilized filamentous algae from the Vindhya basin have been dated back to 1.6 to 1.7 billion years ago.


title: Algae

text: Because of the wide range of types of algae, they have increasing different industrial and traditional applications in human society. Traditional seaweed farming practices have existed for thousands of years and have strong traditions in East Asia food cultures. More modern algaculture applications extend the food traditions for other applications include cattle feed, using algae for bioremediation or pollution control, transforming sunlight into algae fuels or other chemicals used in industrial processes, and in medical and scientific applications. A 2020 review found that these applications of algae could play an important role in carbon sequestration in order to mitigate climate change while providing valuable value-add products for global economies.


title: Algae

text: The singular is the Latin word for 'seaweed' and retains that meaning in English. The etymology is obscure. Although some speculate that it is related to Latin , 'be cold', no reason is known to associate seaweed with temperature. A more likely source is , 'binding, entwining'.


title: Algae

text: The Ancient Greek word for 'seaweed' was (), which could mean either the seaweed (probably red algae) or a red dye derived from it. The Latinization, , meant primarily the cosmetic rouge. The etymology is uncertain, but a strong candidate has long been some word related to the Biblical (), 'paint' (if not that word itself), a cosmetic eye-shadow used by the ancient Egyptians and other inhabitants of the eastern Mediterranean. It could be any color: black, red, green, or blue.


title: Algae

text: Accordingly, the modern study of marine and freshwater algae is called either phycology or algology, depending on whether the Greek or Latin root is used. The name "fucus" appears in a number of taxa.


title: Algae

text: The committee on the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature has recommended certain suffixes for use in the classification of algae. These are -phyta for division, "-phyceae" for class, "-phycideae" for subclass, "-ales" for order, "-inales" for suborder, "-aceae" for family, "-oidease" for subfamily, a Greek-based name for genus, and a Latin-based name for species.


title: Algae

text: The primary classification of algae is based on certain morphological features. The chief among these are (a) pigment constitution of the cell, (b) chemical nature of stored food materials, (c) kind, number, point of insertion and relative length of the flagella on the motile cell, (d) chemical composition of cell wall and (e) presence or absence of a definitely organized nucleus in the cell or any other significant details of cell structure.


title: Algae

text: Although Carolus Linnaeus (1754) included algae along with lichens in his 25th class Cryptogamia, he did not elaborate further on the classification of algae.


title: Algae

text: Jean Pierre Étienne Vaucher (1803) was perhaps the first to propose a system of classification of algae, and he recognized three groups, Conferves, Ulves, and Tremelles. While Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link (1820) classified algae on the basis of the colour of the pigment and structure, William Henry Harvey (1836) proposed a system of classification on the basis of the habitat and the pigment. J. G. Agardh (1849–1898) divided algae into six orders: Diatomaceae, Nostochineae, Confervoideae, Ulvaceae, Floriadeae and Fucoideae. Around 1880, algae along with fungi were grouped under Thallophyta, a division created by Eichler (1836). Encouraged by this, Adolf Engler and Karl A. E. Prantl (1912) proposed a revised scheme of classification of algae and included fungi in algae as they were of opinion that fungi have been derived from algae. The scheme proposed by Engler and Prantl is summarised as follows:


title: Algae

text: The algae contain chloroplasts that are similar in structure to cyanobacteria. Chloroplasts contain circular DNA like that in cyanobacteria and are interpreted as representing reduced endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. However, the exact origin of the chloroplasts is different among separate lineages of algae, reflecting their acquisition during different endosymbiotic events. The table below describes the composition of the three major groups of algae. Their lineage relationships are shown in the figure in the upper right. Many of these groups contain some members that are no longer photosynthetic. Some retain plastids, but not chloroplasts, while others have lost plastids entirely.


title: Algae

text: Linnaeus, in "Species Plantarum" (1753), the starting point for modern botanical nomenclature, recognized 14 genera of algae, of which only four are currently considered among algae. In "Systema Naturae", Linnaeus described the genera "Volvox" and "Corallina", and a species of "Acetabularia" (as "Madrepora"), among the animals.


title: Algae

text: In 1768, Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin (1744–1774) published the "Historia Fucorum", the first work dedicated to marine algae and the first book on marine biology to use the then new binomial nomenclature of Linnaeus. It included elaborate illustrations of seaweed and marine algae on folded leaves.


title: Algae

text: W. H. Harvey (1811–1866) and Lamouroux (1813) were the first to divide macroscopic algae into four divisions based on their pigmentation. This is the first use of a biochemical criterion in plant systematics. Harvey's four divisions are: red algae (Rhodospermae), brown algae (Melanospermae), green algae (Chlorospermae), and Diatomaceae.


title: Algae

text: At this time, microscopic algae were discovered and reported by a different group of workers (e.g., O. F. Müller and Ehrenberg) studying the Infusoria (microscopic organisms). Unlike macroalgae, which were clearly viewed as plants, microalgae were frequently considered animals because they are often motile. Even the nonmotile (coccoid) microalgae were sometimes merely seen as stages of the lifecycle of plants, macroalgae, or animals.


title: Algae

text: Although used as a taxonomic category in some pre-Darwinian classifications, e.g., Linnaeus (1753), de Jussieu (1789), Horaninow (1843), Agassiz (1859), Wilson & Cassin (1864), in further classifications, the "algae" are seen as an artificial, polyphyletic group.


title: Algae

text: Throughout the 20th century, most classifications treated the following groups as divisions or classes of algae: cyanophytes, rhodophytes, chrysophytes, xanthophytes, bacillariophytes, phaeophytes, pyrrhophytes (cryptophytes and dinophytes), euglenophytes, and chlorophytes. Later, many new groups were discovered (e.g., Bolidophyceae), and others were splintered from older groups: charophytes and glaucophytes (from chlorophytes), many heterokontophytes (e.g., synurophytes from chrysophytes, or eustigmatophytes from xanthophytes), haptophytes (from chrysophytes), and chlorarachniophytes (from xanthophytes).


title: Algae

text: With the abandonment of plant-animal dichotomous classification, most groups of algae (sometimes all) were included in Protista, later also abandoned in favour of Eukaryota. However, as a legacy of the older plant life scheme, some groups that were also treated as protozoans in the past still have duplicated classifications (see ambiregnal protists).


title: Algae

text: Some parasitic algae (e.g., the green algae "Prototheca" and "Helicosporidium", parasites of metazoans, or "Cephaleuros", parasites of plants) were originally classified as fungi, sporozoans, or protistans of "incertae sedis", while others (e.g., the green algae "Phyllosiphon" and "Rhodochytrium", parasites of plants, or the red algae "Pterocladiophila" and "Gelidiocolax mammillatus", parasites of other red algae, or the dinoflagellates "Oodinium", parasites of fish) had their relationship with algae conjectured early. In other cases, some groups were originally characterized as parasitic algae (e.g., "Chlorochytrium"), but later were seen as endophytic algae. Some filamentous bacteria (e.g., "Beggiatoa") were originally seen as algae. Furthermore, groups like the apicomplexans are also parasites derived from ancestors that possessed plastids, but are not included in any group traditionally seen as algae.


title: Algae

text: The first land plants probably evolved from shallow freshwater charophyte algae much like "Chara" almost 500 million years ago. These probably had an isomorphic alternation of generations and were probably filamentous. Fossils of isolated land plant spores suggest land plants may have been around as long as 475 million years ago.


title: Algae

text: A range of algal morphologies is exhibited, and convergence of features in unrelated groups is common. The only groups to exhibit three-dimensional multicellular thalli are the reds and browns, and some chlorophytes. Apical growth is constrained to subsets of these groups: the florideophyte reds, various browns, and the charophytes. The form of charophytes is quite different from those of reds and browns, because they have distinct nodes, separated by internode 'stems'; whorls of branches reminiscent of the horsetails occur at the nodes. Conceptacles are another polyphyletic trait; they appear in the coralline algae and the Hildenbrandiales, as well as the browns.


title: Algae

text: Most of the simpler algae are unicellular flagellates or amoeboids, but colonial and nonmotile forms have developed independently among several of the groups. Some of the more common organizational levels, more than one of which may occur in the lifecycle of a species, are


title: Algae

text: In three lines, even higher levels of organization have been reached, with full tissue differentiation. These are the brown algae,—some of which may reach 50 m in length (kelps)—the red algae, and the green algae. The most complex forms are found among the charophyte algae (see Charales and Charophyta), in a lineage that eventually led to the higher land plants. The innovation that defines these nonalgal plants is the presence of female reproductive organs with protective cell layers that protect the zygote and developing embryo. Hence, the land plants are referred to as the Embryophytes.


title: Algae

text: The term algal turf is commonly used but poorly defined. Algal turfs are thick, carpet-like beds of seaweed that retain sediment and compete with foundation species like corals and kelps, and they are usually less than 15 cm tall. Such a turf may consist of one or more species, and will generally cover an area in the order of a square metre or more. Some common characteristics are listed:


title: Algae

text: Many algae, particularly members of the Characeae species, have served as model experimental organisms to understand the mechanisms of the water permeability of membranes, osmoregulation, turgor regulation, salt tolerance, cytoplasmic streaming, and the generation of action potentials.


title: Algae

text: Some species of algae form symbiotic relationships with other organisms. In these symbioses, the algae supply photosynthates (organic substances) to the host organism providing protection to the algal cells. The host organism derives some or all of its energy requirements from the algae. Examples are:


title: Algae

text: Lichens are defined by the International Association for Lichenology to be "an association of a fungus and a photosynthetic symbiont resulting in a stable vegetative body having a specific structure". The fungi, or mycobionts, are mainly from the Ascomycota with a few from the Basidiomycota. In nature, they do not occur separate from lichens. It is unknown when they began to associate. One mycobiont associates with the same phycobiont species, rarely two, from the green algae, except that alternatively, the mycobiont may associate with a species of cyanobacteria (hence "photobiont" is the more accurate term). A photobiont may be associated with many different mycobionts or may live independently; accordingly, lichens are named and classified as fungal species. The association is termed a morphogenesis because the lichen has a form and capabilities not possessed by the symbiont species alone (they can be experimentally isolated). The photobiont possibly triggers otherwise latent genes in the mycobiont.


title: Algae

text: Trentepohlia is an example of a common green alga genus worldwide that can grow on its own or be lichenised. Lichen thus share some of the habitat and often similar appearance with specialized species of algae ("aerophytes") growing on exposed surfaces such as tree trunks and rocks and sometimes discoloring them.


title: Algae

text: Coral reefs are accumulated from the calcareous exoskeletons of marine invertebrates of the order Scleractinia (stony corals). These animals metabolize sugar and oxygen to obtain energy for their cell-building processes, including secretion of the exoskeleton, with water and carbon dioxide as byproducts. Dinoflagellates (algal protists) are often endosymbionts in the cells of the coral-forming marine invertebrates, where they accelerate host-cell metabolism by generating sugar and oxygen immediately available through photosynthesis using incident light and the carbon dioxide produced by the host. Reef-building stony corals (hermatypic corals) require endosymbiotic algae from the genus "Symbiodinium" to be in a healthy condition. The loss of "Symbiodinium" from the host is known as coral bleaching, a condition which leads to the deterioration of a reef.


title: Algae

text: Endosymbiontic green algae live close to the surface of some sponges, for example, breadcrumb sponges ("Halichondria panicea"). The alga is thus protected from predators; the sponge is provided with oxygen and sugars which can account for 50 to 80% of sponge growth in some species.


title: Algae

text: Rhodophyta, Chlorophyta, and Heterokontophyta, the three main algal divisions, have lifecycles which show considerable variation and complexity. In general, an asexual phase exists where the seaweed's cells are diploid, a sexual phase where the cells are haploid, followed by fusion of the male and female gametes. Asexual reproduction permits efficient population increases, but less variation is possible. Commonly, in sexual reproduction of unicellular and colonial algae, two specialized, sexually compatible, haploid gametes make physical contact and fuse to form a zygote. To ensure a successful mating, the development and release of gametes is highly synchronized and regulated; pheromones may play a key role in these processes. Sexual reproduction allows for more variation and provides the benefit of efficient recombinational repair of DNA damages during meiosis, a key stage of the sexual cycle. However, sexual reproduction is more costly than asexual reproduction. Meiosis has been shown to occur in many different species of algae.


title: Algae

text: The "Algal Collection of the US National Herbarium" (located in the National Museum of Natural History) consists of approximately 320,500 dried specimens, which, although not exhaustive (no exhaustive collection exists), gives an idea of the order of magnitude of the number of algal species (that number remains unknown). Estimates vary widely. For example, according to one standard textbook, in the British Isles the "UK Biodiversity Steering Group Report" estimated there to be 20,000 algal species in the UK. Another checklist reports only about 5,000 species. Regarding the difference of about 15,000 species, the text concludes: "It will require many detailed field surveys before it is possible to provide a reliable estimate of the total number of species ..."


title: Algae

text: and so on, but lacking any scientific basis or reliable sources, these numbers have no more credibility than the British ones mentioned above. Most estimates also omit microscopic algae, such as phytoplankton.


title: Algae

text: The distribution of algal species has been fairly well studied since the founding of phytogeography in the mid-19th century. Algae spread mainly by the dispersal of spores analogously to the dispersal of Plantae by seeds and spores. This dispersal can be accomplished by air, water, or other organisms. Due to this, spores can be found in a variety of environments: fresh and marine waters, air, soil, and in or on other organisms. Whether a spore is to grow into an organism depends on the combination of the species and the environmental conditions where the spore lands.


title: Algae

text: The spores of freshwater algae are dispersed mainly by running water and wind, as well as by living carriers. However, not all bodies of water can carry all species of algae, as the chemical composition of certain water bodies limits the algae that can survive within them. Marine spores are often spread by ocean currents. Ocean water presents many vastly different habitats based on temperature and nutrient availability, resulting in phytogeographic zones, regions, and provinces.


title: Algae

text: To some degree, the distribution of algae is subject to floristic discontinuities caused by geographical features, such as Antarctica, long distances of ocean or general land masses. It is, therefore, possible to identify species occurring by locality, such as "Pacific algae" or "North Sea algae". When they occur out of their localities, hypothesizing a transport mechanism is usually possible, such as the hulls of ships. For example, "Ulva reticulata" and "U. fasciata" travelled from the mainland to Hawaii in this manner.


title: Algae

text: Mapping is possible for select species only: "there are many valid examples of confined distribution patterns." For example, "Clathromorphum" is an arctic genus and is not mapped far south of there. However, scientists regard the overall data as insufficient due to the "difficulties of undertaking such studies."


title: Algae

text: Algae are prominent in bodies of water, common in terrestrial environments, and are found in unusual environments, such as on snow and ice. Seaweeds grow mostly in shallow marine waters, under deep; however, some such as "Navicula pennata" have been recorded to a depth of . A type of algae, "Ancylonema nordenskioeldii", was found in Greenland in areas known as the 'Dark Zone', which caused an increase in the rate of melting ice sheet. Same algae was found in the Italian Alps, after pink ice appeared on parts of the Presena glacier.


title: Algae

text: The various sorts of algae play significant roles in aquatic ecology. Microscopic forms that live suspended in the water column (phytoplankton) provide the food base for most marine food chains. In very high densities (algal blooms), these algae may discolor the water and outcompete, poison, or asphyxiate other life forms.


title: Algae

text: Algae can be used as indicator organisms to monitor pollution in various aquatic systems. In many cases, algal metabolism is sensitive to various pollutants. Due to this, the species composition of algal populations may shift in the presence of chemical pollutants. To detect these changes, algae can be sampled from the environment and maintained in laboratories with relative ease.


title: Algae

text: On the basis of their habitat, algae can be categorized as: aquatic (planktonic, benthic, marine, freshwater, lentic, lotic), terrestrial, aerial (subaerial), lithophytic, halophytic (or euryhaline), psammon, thermophilic, cryophilic, epibiont (epiphytic, epizoic), endosymbiont (endophytic, endozoic), parasitic, calcifilic or lichenic (phycobiont).


title: Algae

text: In classical Chinese, the word is used both for "algae" and (in the modest tradition of the imperial scholars) for "literary talent". The third island in Kunming Lake beside the Summer Palace in Beijing is known as the Zaojian Tang Dao, which thus simultaneously means "Island of the Algae-Viewing Hall" and "Island of the Hall for Reflecting on Literary Talent".


title: Algae

text: Agar, a gelatinous substance derived from red algae, has a number of commercial uses. It is a good medium on which to grow bacteria and fungi, as most microorganisms cannot digest agar.


title: Algae

text: Alginic acid, or alginate, is extracted from brown algae. Its uses range from gelling agents in food, to medical dressings. Alginic acid also has been used in the field of biotechnology as a biocompatible medium for cell encapsulation and cell immobilization. Molecular cuisine is also a user of the substance for its gelling properties, by which it becomes a delivery vehicle for flavours.


title: Algae

text: Between 100,000 and 170,000 wet tons of "Macrocystis" are harvested annually in New Mexico for alginate extraction and abalone feed.


title: Algae

text: To be competitive and independent from fluctuating support from (local) policy on the long run, biofuels should equal or beat the cost level of fossil fuels. Here, algae-based fuels hold great promise, directly related to the potential to produce more biomass per unit area in a year than any other form of biomass. The break-even point for algae-based biofuels is estimated to occur by 2025.


title: Algae

text: For centuries, seaweed has been used as a fertilizer; George Owen of Henllys writing in the 16th century referring to drift weed in South Wales:


title: Algae

text: Today, algae are used by humans in many ways; for example, as fertilizers, soil conditioners, and livestock feed. Aquatic and microscopic species are cultured in clear tanks or ponds and are either harvested or used to treat effluents pumped through the ponds. Algaculture on a large scale is an important type of aquaculture in some places. Maerl is commonly used as a soil conditioner.


title: Algae

text: Naturally growing seaweeds are an important source of food, especially in Asia, leading some to label them as superfoods. They provide many vitamins including: A, B, B, B, niacin, and C, and are rich in iodine, potassium, iron, magnesium, and calcium. In addition, commercially cultivated microalgae, including both algae and cyanobacteria, are marketed as nutritional supplements, such as spirulina, "Chlorella" and the vitamin-C supplement from "Dunaliella", high in beta-carotene.


title: Algae

text: Algae are national foods of many nations: China consumes more than 70 species, including "fat choy", a cyanobacterium considered a vegetable; Japan, over 20 species such as "nori" and "aonori"; Ireland, dulse; Chile, cochayuyo. Laver is used to make laver bread in Wales, where it is known as ; in Korea, . It is also used along the west coast of North America from California to British Columbia, in Hawaii and by the Māori of New Zealand. Sea lettuce and badderlocks are salad ingredients in Scotland, Ireland, Greenland, and Iceland. Algae is being considered a potential solution for world hunger problem.


title: Algae

text: The oils from some algae have high levels of unsaturated fatty acids. For example, "Parietochloris incisa" is very high in arachidonic acid, where it reaches up to 47% of the triglyceride pool. Some varieties of algae favored by vegetarianism and veganism contain the long-chain, essential omega-3 fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Fish oil contains the omega-3 fatty acids, but the original source is algae (microalgae in particular), which are eaten by marine life such as copepods and are passed up the food chain. Algae have emerged in recent years as a popular source of omega-3 fatty acids for vegetarians who cannot get long-chain EPA and DHA from other vegetarian sources such as flaxseed oil, which only contains the short-chain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).


title: Algae

text: Agricultural Research Service scientists found that 60–90% of nitrogen runoff and 70–100% of phosphorus runoff can be captured from manure effluents using a horizontal algae scrubber, also called an algal turf scrubber (ATS). Scientists developed the ATS, which consists of shallow, 100-foot raceways of nylon netting where algae colonies can form, and studied its efficacy for three years. They found that algae can readily be used to reduce the nutrient runoff from agricultural fields and increase the quality of water flowing into rivers, streams, and oceans. Researchers collected and dried the nutrient-rich algae from the ATS and studied its potential as an organic fertilizer. They found that cucumber and corn seedlings grew just as well using ATS organic fertilizer as they did with commercial fertilizers. Algae scrubbers, using bubbling upflow or vertical waterfall versions, are now also being used to filter aquaria and ponds.


title: Algae

text: Various polymers can be created from algae, which can be especially useful in the creation of bioplastics. These include hybrid plastics, cellulose-based plastics, poly-lactic acid, and bio-polyethylene. Several companies have begun to produce algae polymers commercially, including for use in flip-flops and in surf boards.


title: Algae

text: The alga "Stichococcus bacillaris" has been seen to colonize silicone resins used at archaeological sites; biodegrading the synthetic substance.


title: Algae

text: The natural pigments (carotenoids and chlorophylls) produced by algae can be used as alternatives to chemical dyes and coloring agents.


title: Algae

text: The presence of some individual algal pigments, together with specific pigment concentration ratios, are taxon-specific: analysis of their concentrations with various analytical methods, particularly high-performance liquid chromatography, can therefore offer deep insight into the taxonomic composition and relative abundance of natural algae populations in sea water samples.


title: Somali Civil War

text: The Somali Civil War (; ) is an ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the military junta which was led by Siad Barre during the 1980s. From 1988 to 1990, the Somali Armed Forces began engaging in combat against various armed rebel groups, including the Somali Salvation Democratic Front in the northeast, the Somali National Movement in the northwest, and the United Somali Congress in the south. The clan-based armed opposition groups overthrew the Barre government in 1991.


title: Somali Civil War

text: Various armed factions began competing for influence in the power vacuum and turmoil that followed, particularly in the south. In 1990–92, customary law temporarily collapsed due to the fighting. This precipitated the arrival of UNOSOM I UN military observers in July 1992, followed by larger peacekeeping forces. Factional fighting continued in the south. In the absence of a central government, Somalia became a "failed state". The UN withdrew in 1995, having incurred large casualties and the UN-created police force collapsed. After the central government's collapse, there was some return to customary and religious law in most regions. In 1991 and 1998, two autonomous regional governments were also established in the northern part of the country. This led to a relative decrease in the intensity of the fighting, with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute removing Somalia from its list of major armed conflicts for 1997 and 1998.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In 2000, the Transitional National Government was established, followed by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2004. The trend toward reduced conflict halted in 2005, and sustained and destructive conflict took place in the south in 2005–07, but the battle was of a much lower scale and intensity than in the early 1990s. In 2006, Ethiopian troops seized most of the south from the newly formed Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The ICU then splintered into more radical groups, notably al-Shabaab, which have since been fighting the Somali government and the AU-mandated AMISOM peacekeeping force for control of the country. Somalia topped the annual Fragile States Index for six years from 2008 up to and including 2013.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In October 2011, following preparatory meetings, Kenyan troops entered southern Somalia ("Operation Linda Nchi") to fight al-Shabaab and establish a buffer zone inside Somalia. Kenyan troops were formally integrated into the multinational force in February 2012. The Federal Government of Somalia was established in August 2012, constituting the country's first permanent central government since the start of the civil war. International stakeholders and analysts subsequently began to describe Somalia as a "fragile state" that is making some progress toward stability.


title: Somali Civil War

text: After Somalia lost the Ogaden War in March 1978, the president's popularity with Somalis plummeted and widespread discontent among his generals led to an attempted coup d'état on the 10th of April 1978.


title: Somali Civil War

text: Most of the coup's ringleaders were rounded up and executed but some escaped and formed the Somali Salvation Democratic Front, starting the rebellion that eventually toppled Siad Barre from power 13 years later.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In May 1986, Mohamed Siad Barre suffered serious injuries in a car crash near Mogadishu, when the car transporting him smashed into the back of a bus during a heavy rainstorm. He was treated in a hospital in Saudi Arabia for head injuries, broken ribs and shock for a month. Lieutenant General Mohamed Ali Samatar, then Vice President, served as de facto head of state for the next several months. Although Barre managed to recover enough to present himself for reelection to a seven-year term on December 23, 1986, his poor health and advanced age led to speculation about who would succeed him. Possible contenders included his son-in-law General Ahmed Suleiman Abdille, then the Minister of the Interior, in addition to Samatar.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In an effort to hold on to power, Barre's ruling Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) became increasingly totalitarian and arbitrary. This caused opposition to his government to grow. Barre tried to quell the unrest by abandoning appeals to nationalism, relying more and more on his own inner circle, and exploiting historical clan animosities. By the mid-1980s, more resistance movements supported by Ethiopia's communist Derg administration had sprung up across the country. Barre responded by ordering punitive measures against those he perceived as supporting the guerrillas, especially in the north. The clampdown included the bombing of cities, with the northwestern administrative center of Hargeisa, a Somali National Movement (SNM) stronghold, among the targeted areas in 1988.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In December 1981, unrest was triggered in Northern Somalia by the arrest of 30 Isaaq professionals in Hargeisa who created a self-help group to improve local facilities. This was followed by the systematic efforts to remove all Isaaqs from positions of power including the military, judiciary and security services, as well as harsh policies enacted against the Isaaq, including a declaration of economic warfare on the Isaaq. The transfer of power to non-Isaaq pro-government individuals further pushed Isaaq communities to rebel against Barre's regime and was one of the main causes of the breakout of the Somaliland War of Independence.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In 1988, Siad Barre and Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam agreed to a secret deal whereby each would cease hosting insurgencies of one another. This prompted the Somali National Movement (SNM) to launch an offensive on Northern Somalia from its bases on the Ethiopian border. Barre's regime responded with “systematic” human rights abuses and the genocide of thousands of Isaaq tribesmen resulting in up to 200,000 civilians slaughtered and 500,000 more people seeking refuge in neighbouring Ethiopia.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In response to these humanitarian abuses, Western aid donors cut funding to the Somali regime which, at the time, was heavily reliant on foreign aid. This resulted in a rapid "retreat of the state", accompanied by a severe drop in value for the Somali Shilling and mass military desertion by Somali army units.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In 1990, as fighting intensified, Somalia's first President, Aden Abdullah Osman Daar, and about 100 other Somali politicians signed a manifesto advocating reconciliation. A number of the signatories were subsequently arrested. Barre's heavy-handed tactics further strengthened the appeal of the various rebel movements, although these groups' only common goal was the overthrow of his government.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In the north, fighting continued between SNM rebels and heavily armed pro-government militia in places like Awdal. In January 1991, in one of the final episodes of the civil war in the north, SNM militia gave chase to retreating government forces (26th Division) to the town of Dilla, where a battle took place and the town was destroyed. SNM militia then continued into Borama, the capital and largest town of Awdal, but the SNM leadership withdrew units within 24 hours to allow discussions to take place without the threat of occupation. By February 4, SNM's control extended to the entire north of Somalia, and all prisoners and pro-government ex-soldiers were released and ordered to return to their regions of origin (mainly Ethiopia), except for Hawiye ex-soldiers and ex-civil servants, who were permitted to remain in Burco since their lives would have been at risk if they had traveled through hostile pro-Barre country on their return to Mogadishu Somalia .


title: Somali Civil War

text: By mid-1990, United Somali Congress (USC) rebels had captured most towns and villages surrounding Mogadishu, which prompted some to give Barre the ironic title 'Mayor of Mogadishu.' In December the USC entered Mogadishu. Four weeks of battle between Barre's remaining troops and the USC ensued, during which the USC brought more forces into the city. By January 1991, USC rebels defeated the Red Berets, Barre's special forces, toppling Barre's hold on the government. The remainder of the government's forces then finally collapsed. Some became irregular regional forces and clan militias. After the USC's victory over Barre's troops, the other rebel groups declined to cooperate with it, as each instead drew primary support from its own constituency. Among these other opposition movements were the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) and Somali Democratic Alliance (SDA), a Gadabuursi group which had been formed in the northwest to counter the Somali National Movement Isaaq militia. For its part, the SNM initially refused to accept the legitimacy of the provisional government that the USC had established, but in March 1991 the SNM's former leader Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo proposed a power-sharing framework between the SNM and USC under a new transitional government.


title: Somali Civil War

text: Many of the opposition groups subsequently began competing for influence in the power vacuum that followed the ousting of Barre's government. In the south, armed factions led by USC commanders General Mohamed Farah Aidid and Ali Mahdi Mohamed, in particular, clashed as each sought to exert authority over the capital.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In the northwest, at the Burao conference of April–May 1991, the SNM declared an independent Republic of Somaliland in the region that had constituted the British Somaliland before independence and unification with the former colony of Italian Somaliland in 1960 electing Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur as president.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In 1992, after four months of heavy fighting for control of Mogadishu, a ceasefire was agreed between Ali Mahdi Mohamed and Mohamed Farah Aideed. Neither had seized control of the capital, and as a result, a 'greenline' was established between east and west that divided their areas of control.


title: Somali Civil War

text: UN Security Council Resolution 733 and UN Security Council Resolution 746 led to the creation of the United Nations Operation in Somalia I (UNOSOM I), to provide humanitarian relief and help restore order in Somalia after the dissolution of its central government.


title: Somali Civil War

text: United Nations Security Council Resolution 794 was unanimously passed on December 3, 1992, which approved a coalition of United Nations peacekeepers led by the United States. Forming the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the alliance was tasked with assuring security until humanitarian efforts aimed at stabilizing the situation were transferred to the UN. Landing in 1993, the UN peacekeeping coalition started the two-year United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) primarily in the south. UNITAF's original mandate was to use "all necessary means" to guarantee the delivery of humanitarian aid in accordance to Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.


title: Somali Civil War

text: During negotiations from 1993 to 1995, Somali principals had some success in reconciliation and establishment of public authorities. Among these initiatives was the Mudug peace agreement of June 1993 between Aidid's forces and the SSDF, which established a ceasefire between the Haber Gedir and the Majeerteen clans, opened the trade routes, and formalized the withdrawal of militants from Galkayo; the UNOSOM-mediated Hirab reconciliation of January 1994 in Mogadishu between elders of the rival Abgal and Haber Gedir clans, which was backed by politicians from these constituencies and concluded with a pact to end hostilities, dismantle the green line partitioning the city, and remove road blocks; the UNOSOM-mediated Kismayo initiative of 1994 between the SNA, SPM, SSDF, and representatives of nineteen clans from the southern Lower Juba and Middle Juba regions; the 1994 Bardhere conference between the Marehan and Rahanweyn (Digil and Mirifle), which resolved conflicts over local resources; and the short-lived Digil-Mirifle Governing Council for the southern Bay and Bakool regions, which was established in March 1995.


title: Somali Civil War

text: Some of the militias that were then competing for power saw UNOSOM's presence as a threat to their hegemony. Consequently, gun battles took place in Mogadishu between local gunmen and peacekeepers. Among these was the Battle of Mogadishu in October 1993, part of an unsuccessful operation by U.S. troops to apprehend Somali National Alliance faction leader Mohamed Farah Aidid. UN soldiers eventually withdrew altogether from the country on March 3, 1995, having incurred more significant casualties.


title: Somali Civil War

text: After UNOSOM II's departure in March 1995, military clashes between local factions became shorter, generally less intense, and more localized. This was in part due to the large-scale UN military intervention that had helped to curb the intense fighting between the major factions, who then began to focus on consolidating gains that they had made. The local peace and reconciliation initiatives that had been undertaken in the south-central part of the country between 1993 and 1995 also generally had a positive impact.


title: Somali Civil War

text: Aidid subsequently declared himself President of Somalia on June 15, 1995. However, his declaration received no recognition, as his rival Ali Mahdi Muhammad had already been elected interim President at a conference in Djibouti and recognized as such by the international community.


title: Somali Civil War

text: Consequently, Aidid's faction continued its quest for hegemony in the south. In September 1995, militia forces loyal to him attacked and occupied the city of Baidoa. Aidid's forces remained in control of Baidoa from September 1995 to at least January 1996, while the local Rahanweyn Resistance Army militia continued to engage his forces in the town's environs.


title: Somali Civil War

text: Fighting continued in the later half of 1995 in southern Kismayo and the Juba Valley, as well as southwestern and central Somalia. However, despite these pockets of conflict, the Gedo and Middle Shabelle regions, and northwestern parts of the country remained relatively peaceful. A number of the regional and district administrations that had been locally established in the preceding few years continued to operate in these areas. In 1994-95, factions contending for power in the newly-declared-independent Somaliland region included the United Somalia Front, the Somalia Democratic Front, the Somali National Movement, and the United Somali Party.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In March 1996, Ali Mahdi was elected chairman of the United Somali Congress/Somali Salvation Alliance (USC/SSA), based in northern Mogadishu. In the southern part of city, Aidid's forces battled those of Osman Atto for control of the port of Merca as well as strategic areas in Mogadishu. Fighting in Merca eventually ended after elders intervened, but continued in Mogadishu. In August 1996, Aidid died from wounds incurred during combat in the Medina area.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In 1998, a homegrown constitutional conference was held in the northeastern town of Garowe over a period of three months. It was attended by the area's political elite, traditional elders ("Issims"), members of the business community, intellectuals and other civil society representatives. The Puntland State of Somalia was subsequently established.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In 1999, Eritrea was alleged to be supporting Somali National Alliance forces led by the late Aidid's son Hussein Farrah Aidid. Aidid Jr. denied the claims, saying that the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi had requested that he mediate between Ethiopia and Eritrea in their separate conflict. However the International Institute for Strategic Studies separately reported that Hussein Aideed himself had acknowledged support from both Eritrea and Uganda. Aideed's forces occupied Huddur and Baidoa. However, they were driven out by the Rahanweyn Resistance Army in June 1999. By the end of the year, the Rahanweyn Resistance Army had taken control of the Bay and Bakool provinces. The RRA's leader Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud subsequently established the Southwestern State of Somalia regional administration.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In 2000, Ali Mahdi participated in another conference in Djibouti. He lost a re-election bid there to Barre's former Interior Minister Abdiqasim Salad Hassan.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In 2000, the Transitional National Government (TNG) was established. The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was formed in Nairobi in 2004. Selection of members of parliament was underway by June, over two hundred members of parliament (MPs) took the oath of office in August, and Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was elected president by the parliament in October 2004.


title: Somali Civil War

text: However, in March 2005 the TFG split after a brawl in parliament over deployment of peacekeepers and relocation to an interim capital. The parliamentary speaker led some members to Mogadishu while the president and others remained in Nairobi. In June 2005, under pressure from Kenya, the remainder of the TFG left Nairobi for Jowhar. In February 2006, the TFG parliament met in Baidoa for the first time since March 2005. (Interpeace, 104)


title: Somali Civil War

text: A battle for Mogadishu followed in the first half of 2006 in which the ARPCT, a coalition of U.S.-backed militia leaders, confronted the ascendant Islamic Courts Union (ICU). However, the ICU won a decisive victory in June of that year. It then rapidly expanded and consolidated its power throughout southern Somalia. By August 2006, the TFG was confined to Baidoa under Ethiopian protection. (Interpeace, 104)


title: Somali Civil War

text: In December 2006, Ethiopian troops entered Somalia to assist the TFG against the advancing Islamic Courts Union, initially winning the Battle of Baidoa. With their support, Somali government forces recaptured the capital from the ICU. The offensive helped the TFG solidify its rule. On January 8, 2007, as the Battle of Ras Kamboni raged, TFG President and founder Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed entered Mogadishu for the first time since being elected to office. But as Meckhaus writes, the TFG was seen "by most of the Mogadishu population as a puppet of Ethiopia, and uncontrolled TFG security forces became the principal sources of insecurity for the local population, engaging in kidnapping, assaults, and worse." Within weeks, an armed insurgency subsequently arose in the capital against the TFG and its Ethiopian allies. The government then relocated to the capital from its interim location in Baidoa.


title: Somali Civil War

text: The arms embargo on Somalia was amended in February 2007 to allow states to supply weapons to the TFG's security forces, provided that they received prior approval from the UN's Somalia Sanctions Committee. After long discussions, the African Union approved the initial deployment of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) in March 2007. It established a "small triangle of protection" around Mogadishu's airport, seaport, and the Villa Somalia, and began to adopt a low-key negotiating profile with key actors. In November 2008, following repeated violations of the weapons blockade, the Security Council decided that an arms embargo could be imposed on entities involved in such breaches.


title: Somali Civil War

text: After a two-year consultation process, the TFG was formed in 2004 by Somali politicians in Nairobi under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). The process also led to the establishment of the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs), and concluded in October 2004 with the election of Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed as president. The TFG thereafter became Somalia's internationally recognized government.


title: Somali Civil War

text: Following their defeat, the Islamic Courts Union splintered into several different factions. Some of the more radical elements, including Al-Shabaab, regrouped to continue their insurgency against the TFG and oppose the Ethiopian military's presence in Somalia. Throughout 2007 and 2008, Al-Shabaab scored military victories, seizing control of key towns and ports in both central and southern Somalia. At the end of 2008, the group had captured Baidoa but not Mogadishu. On May 1, 2008, the U.S. made an airstrike on Dhusamareb, and followed on 3 May with another airstrike on the border town of Dobley. According to the International Crisis Group, Ethiopia's leaders were surprised by the insurgency's persistence and strength and frustrated at the TFG's chronic internal problems. By January 2009, Al-Shabaab and other militias had forced the Ethiopian troops to retreat, leaving behind an understaffed African Union peacekeeping force.


title: Somali Civil War

text: Due to a lack of funding and human resources, an arms embargo that made it difficult to re-establish a national security force, and general indifference on the part of the international community, President Yusuf found himself obliged to deploy thousands of troops from Puntland to Mogadishu to sustain the battle against insurgent elements in the southern part of the country. Financial support for this effort was provided by the autonomous region's government. This left little revenue for Puntland's own security forces and civil service employees, leaving the territory vulnerable to piracy and terrorist attacks.


title: Somali Civil War

text: On December 29, 2008, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed announced before a united parliament in Baidoa his resignation as President of Somalia. In his speech, which was broadcast on national radio, Yusuf expressed regret at failing to end the country's seventeen-year conflict as his government had mandated to do. He also blamed the international community for its failure to support the government, and said that the speaker of parliament would succeed him in office per the charter of the Transitional Federal Government.


title: Somali Civil War

text: Between May 31 and June 9, 2008, representatives of Somalia's federal government and the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) participated in peace talks in Djibouti brokered by Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Somalia. The conference ended with a signed agreement calling for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops in exchange for the cessation of armed confrontation. Parliament was subsequently expanded to 550 seats to accommodate ARS members, which then elected Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the former ARS chairman, to office. President Sharif shortly afterwards appointed Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, the son of slain former President Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, as the nation's new Prime Minister.


title: Somali Civil War

text: With the help of AMISOM, the coalition government also began a counteroffensive in February 2009 to assume full control of the southern half of the country. To solidify its rule, the TFG formed an alliance with the Islamic Courts Union, other members of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, and Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a, a moderate Sufi militia. Furthermore, Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam, the two main Islamist groups in opposition, began to fight amongst themselves in mid-2009.


title: Somali Civil War

text: As a truce, in March 2009, Somalia's coalition government announced that it would re-implement shari'a as the nation's official judicial system. However, conflict continued in the southern and central parts of the country. Within months, the coalition government had gone from holding about 70% of south-central Somalia's conflict zones, territory which it had inherited from the previous Yusuf administration, to losing control of over 80% of the disputed territory to the Islamist insurgents.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In November 2010, a new technocratic government was elected to office, which enacted numerous reforms. Among these, in its first 50 days in office, the new administration completed its first monthly payment of stipends to government soldiers. This government subsequently began to push back Al-Shabaab over the following years.


title: Somali Civil War

text: On August 6, 2011, Al-Shabaab was forced to withdraw from most of Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab did still retain a foothold in the northern outskirts of the capital, but by January 2012, the combined efforts of Somali government and AMISOM forces had expelled them from the city completely. An ideological rift within Al-Shabaab's leadership also emerged after the 2011 drought and the assassination of top officials in the organization. With the majority of Mogadishu secure, the Somali Armed Forces and Kenya Defence Forces next launched Operation Linda Nchi, a joint advance against Al-Shabaab, in October 2011. This operation had reportedly been planned for nearly two years, during which time Kenyan officials sought U.S. support for the mission. After the successful conclusion of Operation Linda Nchi in May 2012, Kenyan troops were formally integrated into AMISOM in June. After Operation Linda Nchi, the port city of Kismayo was the last major stronghold that remained in Al-Shabaab's control. A Kenyan-led AMISOM force, backed by the Raskamboni movement, then launched an offensive against Kismayo on September 28, 2012. After a three-day battle, Somali government forces were able to gain control of the city. The month of September 2012 also saw the establishment of the Federal Government of Somalia.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In January 2013, AMISOM's mandate was extended for another year following the adoption of UNSC Resolution 2093. The Security Council also unanimously voted to suspend Somalia's arms embargo on light weapons for one year and welcomed the Federal Government's development of a new national security strategy, urging the central authorities to accelerate the plan's implementation, further define the Somali national security forces' composition, and identify capability gaps to assist their international partners in better addressing them. While many urban areas had been seized, Al-Shabaab still controlled many rural areas, where a number of their operatives disappeared into local communities in order to more effectively exploit any mistakes by the central authorities.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In October 2013, the U.S. Africa Command began establishing the Mogadishu Coordinating Cell, which became fully operational in late December. The unit was formed at the request of the Somali government and AMISOM, who had approached U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in September about the possibility. It consists of a team of fewer than five advisers, including planners and communicators between the Somali authorities and AMISOM. The cell is intended to provide consultative and planning support to the allied forces to enhance their capacity and promote peace and security throughout the country and region.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In November 2013, a senior Ethiopian government official announced that Ethiopia's troops deployed in Somalia would soon join AMISOM, having already forwarded a request to do so. At the time, an estimated 8,000 Ethiopian soldiers were stationed in the country. The Somali Foreign Ministry welcomed the decision, asserting that the move would galvanize AMISOM's campaign against Al-Shabaab.


title: Somali Civil War

text: Following the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2124, which authorized the deployment of 4,000 additional troops to augment AMISOM's 22,126 strong force, Ethiopian troops formally joined the mission in January 2014. They are mandated to work alongside the Somali National Army, with responsibility for the allied forces' operations in the southern Gedo, Bakool and Bay regions. The Ethiopian troops represent AMISOM's sixth contingent after the Djibouti, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Kenya and Uganda units.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In January 2014, at an African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud requested an extension of the UN Security Council's weapons purchasing mandate for Somalia after its March expiration, saying that the Somali defence forces required better military equipment and arms to more effectively combat militants. The following month, the UN Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group reported that systematic abuses by Somali government officials had allowed weapons to be diverted away from Somalia's security forces into the hands of faction leaders and Al-Shabaab militants. The panel had observed various problems with the management of weapons and ammunition stockpiles, including difficulties by monitors in accessing local weapons stockpiles and obtaining information about the arms. The monitors also suggested that one key adviser to the president was involved in planning arms deliveries to Al-Shabaab and that shipments of weapons from Djibouti and Uganda could not be accounted for. Somali Chief of Army Dahir Adan Elmi made a pro forma denial of the allegations. He also said that a UN monitoring team had twice visited the government's weapons and ammunition storage facilities in Mogadishu, where it was shown the arms stockpiles for inspection and had expressed satisfaction. Elmi said that the government had twice purchased weapons since the arms embargo on Somalia was partially lifted. He also asserted that Al-Shabaab already had an adequate supply of weapons and mainly utilized explosive devices and sophisticated bombs.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In February 2014, a delegation led by Prime Minister of Somalia Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed met in Addis Ababa with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn to discuss strengthening relations between the countries. Ahmed commended Ethiopia's role in the ongoing peace and stabilization process in Somalia as well as its opposition to Al-Shabaab, and welcomed the Ethiopian military's decision to join AMISOM. Desalegn in turn pledged his administration's continued support for Somalia's peace and stabilization efforts, as well as its preparedness to assist in initiatives aiming to build up Somali security forces through experience-sharing and training. The meeting concluded with a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding agreeing to promote partnership and cooperation, including a cooperative agreement to develop the police force.


title: Somali Civil War

text: On 5 March 2014, the UN Security Council unanimously voted to extend the partial easing of the arms embargo on Somalia to 25 October. The resolution permitted the Somali government to purchase light weapons, with the stipulation that all member states must take steps to prevent the direct or indirect supply, transfer or sale of arms and military equipment to individuals or entities outside of the Somali security forces. The Somali government was also required to routinely report on the structural status of the military, as well as provide information on the extant infrastructure and protocols designed to ensure the military equipment's safe delivery, storage and maintenance.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In early March 2014, AMISOM, supported by Somali militias, launched another operation to remove Al-Shabaab from its remaining areas of control in southern Somalia. According to Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, the government subsequently launched stabilization efforts in the newly liberated areas, which included Rab Dhuure, Hudur, Wajid and Burdhubo. The Ministry of Defense provided ongoing reassurance and security to local residents, and supplied logistical and security support. Additionally, the Ministry of Interior was prepared to support and put into place programs to assist local administration and security. A Deputy Minister and several religious scholars were dispatched to all four towns to coordinate and supervise the federal government's stabilization initiatives. By March 26, the allied forces had liberated ten towns, including Qoryoley and El Buur. UN Special Representative for Somalia Nicholas Kay described the military advance as the most significant and geographically extensive offensive since AU troops began operations in 2007.


title: Somali Civil War

text: In August 2014, the Somali government-led Operation Indian Ocean was launched, aiming to reduce insurgent-held areas along the coastline. On 1 September 2014, a U.S. drone strike carried out as part of the broader mission killed Al-Shabaab leader Moktar Ali Zubeyr. U.S. authorities hailed the raid as a major symbolic and operational loss for Al-Shabaab, and the Somali government offered a 45-day amnesty to all moderate members of the militant group.


title: Somali Civil War

text: On 15 December 2018 there were demonstrations in the city of Baidoa by supporters of Mukhtar Rowbow, a presidential candidate who had been arrested two days earlier by government forces and transferred to Mogadishu. Rowbow was a senior member of al-Shabaab. AMISOM announced that its forces did not assist in Rowbow's arrest and his transfer to Mogadishu.


title: Somali Civil War

text: From the beginning of 2020, humanitarian researchers and local medical personnel became increasingly concerned that the COVID-19 pandemic could be catastrophic for Somalis, because of the damage the civil war has wrought on Somalia's health care, and weak provision since the 1980s. On 25 November 2020, it was reported that a CIA officer had been killed in Somalia. The death came as the US administration under Donald Trump was making plans to withdraw more than 600 troops from Somalia.


title: Somali Civil War

text: President Donald Trump ordered the Department of Defense to remove the majority of the 700 U.S. troops in Somalia (many from Special Operations Command Africa) in December 2020. He changed the mission of American troops to assist the Somali Armed Forces in its fight against al-Shabab.


title: Somali Civil War

text: When President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed's term expired in February 2021, dates had not been set for the election of a successor, and fighting subsequently broke out in Mogadishu. This fighting continued until May 2021, when the government and opposition agreed to hold elections within 60 days; after further negotiation, the presidential election was scheduled for October 10.


title: Somali Civil War

text: According to Necrometrics, around 500,000 people are estimated to have been killed in Somalia since the start of the civil war in 1991. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Dataset estimates that 3,300 people were killed during the conflict in 2012, with the number of fatalities dropping slightly in 2013 to 3,150. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia reported at least 596 civilian casualties by August 2020. However, officials have struggled to maintain an accurate count due to flooding and COVID-19 deaths in the area.


title: Scotland national football team

text: The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the three major professional tournaments: the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Nations League and the UEFA European Championship. Scotland, as a country of the United Kingdom, is not a member of the International Olympic Committee, and therefore the national team does not compete in the Olympic Games. The majority of Scotland's home matches are played at the national stadium, Hampden Park.


title: Scotland national football team

text: Scotland is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872. Scotland has a long-standing rivalry with England, whom they played annually from 1872 until 1989. The teams have met only eight times since then, most recently in a group match during Euro 2020 in June 2021.


title: Scotland national football team

text: Scotland have qualified for the FIFA World Cup on eight occasions, and the UEFA European Championship three times, but have never progressed beyond the first group stage of a finals tournament. The team have achieved some noteworthy results, such as beating the 1966 FIFA World Cup winners England 3–2 at Wembley Stadium in 1967. Archie Gemmill scored what has been described as one of the greatest World Cup goals ever in a 3–2 win during the 1978 World Cup against the Netherlands, who reached the final of the tournament. In their qualifying group for UEFA Euro 2008, Scotland defeated 2006 World Cup runners-up France 1–0 in both fixtures.


title: Scotland national football team

text: Scotland supporters are collectively known as the Tartan Army. The Scottish Football Association operates a roll of honour for every player who has made more than 50 appearances for Scotland. Kenny Dalglish holds the record for Scotland appearances, having played 102 times between 1971 and 1986. Dalglish scored 30 goals for Scotland and shares the record for most goals scored with Denis Law.


title: Scotland national football team

text: Scotland and England are the oldest national football teams in the world. Teams representing the two sides first competed at the Oval in five matches between 1870 and 1872. The two countries contested the first official international football match, at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland, on 30 November 1872. The match ended in a goalless draw. All eleven players who represented Scotland that day played for Glasgow amateur club Queen's Park. Over the next forty years, Scotland played matches exclusively against the other three Home Nations—England, Wales and Ireland. The British Home Championship began in 1883, making these games competitive. The encounters against England were particularly fierce and a rivalry quickly developed.


title: Scotland national football team

text: Scotland lost just two of their first 43 international matches. It was not until a 2–0 home defeat by Ireland in 1903 that Scotland lost a match to a team other than England. This run of success meant that Scotland would have regularly topped the Elo ratings, which were calculated in 1998, between 1876 and 1904. Scotland won the British Home Championship outright on 24 occasions, and shared the title 17 times with at least one other team. A noteworthy victory for Scotland before the Second World War was the 5–1 victory over England in 1928, which led to that Scotland side being known as the "Wembley Wizards". Scotland played their first match outside the British Isles in 1929, beating Norway 7–3 in Bergen. Scotland continued to contest regular friendly matches against European opposition and enjoyed wins against Germany and France before losing to the Austrian "Wunderteam" and Italy in 1931.


title: Scotland national football team

text: Scotland, like the other Home Nations, did not enter the three FIFA World Cups held during the 1930s. This was because the four associations had been excluded from FIFA due to a disagreement regarding the status of amateur players. The four associations, including Scotland, returned to the FIFA fold after the Second World War. A match between a United Kingdom team and a "Rest of the World" team was played at Hampden Park in 1947 to celebrate this reconciliation.


title: Scotland national football team

text: The readmission of the Scottish Football Association to FIFA meant that Scotland were now eligible to enter the 1950 FIFA World Cup. FIFA advised that places would be awarded to the top two teams in the 1950 British Home Championship, but the SFA announced that Scotland would only attend the finals if Scotland won the competition. Scotland won their first two matches, but a 1–0 home defeat by England meant that the Scots finished as runners-up. This meant that the Scots had qualified by right for the World Cup, but had not met the demand of the SFA to win the Championship. The SFA stood by this proclamation, despite pleas to the contrary by the Scotland players, supported by England captain Billy Wright and the other England players. The SFA instead sent the Scots on a tour of North America.


title: Scotland national football team

text: The same qualification rules were in place for the 1954 FIFA World Cup, with the 1954 British Home Championship acting as a qualifying group. Scotland again finished second, but this time the SFA allowed a team to participate in the Finals, held in Switzerland. To quote the SFA website, "The preparation was atrocious". The SFA only sent 13 players to the finals, even though FIFA allowed 22-man squads. Despite this self-imposed hardship in terms of players, the SFA dignitaries travelled in numbers, accompanied by their wives. Scotland lost 1–0 against Austria in their first game in the finals, which prompted the team manager Andy Beattie to resign hours before the game against Uruguay. Uruguay were reigning champions and had never before lost a game at the World Cup finals, and they defeated Scotland 7–0.


title: Scotland national football team

text: The 1958 FIFA World Cup finals saw Scotland draw their first game against Yugoslavia 1–1, but they then lost to Paraguay and France and went out at the first stage. Matt Busby had been due to manage the team at the World Cup, but the severe injuries he suffered in the Munich air disaster meant that trainer Dawson Walker took charge of the team instead.


title: Scotland national football team

text: Under the management of Ian McColl, Scotland enjoyed consecutive British Home Championship successes in 1962 and 1963. Jock Stein, John Prentice and Malky MacDonald all had brief spells as manager before Bobby Brown was appointed in 1967. Brown's first match as manager was against the newly crowned world champions England at Wembley Stadium. Despite being underdogs, Scotland won 3–2 thanks to goals from Denis Law, Bobby Lennox and Jim McCalliog. Having defeated the world champions on their own turf, the Scotland fans hailed their team as the "unofficial world champions". Despite this famous win, the Scots failed to qualify for any major competitions during the 1960s.


title: Scotland national football team

text: After Tommy Docherty's brief spell as manager, Willie Ormond was hired in 1973. Ormond lost his first match in charge 5–0 to England, but recovered to steer Scotland to their first World Cup finals in 16 years in 1974. At the 1974 World Cup finals in West Germany, Scotland achieved their most impressive performance at a World Cup tournament. The team was unbeaten but failed to progress beyond the group stages on goal difference. After beating Zaïre, they drew with both Brazil and Yugoslavia, and went out because they had beaten Zaïre by the smallest margin.


title: Scotland national football team

text: Scotland appointed Ally MacLeod as manager in 1977, with qualification for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina far from assured. The team made a strong start under MacLeod by winning the 1977 British Home Championship, largely thanks to a 2–1 victory over England at Wembley. The Scotland fans invaded the pitch after the match, ripping up the turf and breaking a crossbar. Scotland's form continued as they secured qualification for the World Cup with victories over Czechoslovakia and Wales.


title: Scotland national football team

text: During the build-up to the 1978 FIFA World Cup, MacLeod fuelled the hopes of the nation by stating that Scotland would come home with a medal. As the squad left for the finals in Argentina, they were given an enthusiastic send-off as they were paraded around a packed Hampden Park. Thousands more fans lined the route to Prestwick Airport as the team set off for South America. Scotland lost their first game 3–1 against Peru in Córdoba, and drew the second 1–1 against newcomers Iran. The disconsolate mood of the nation was reflected by footage of MacLeod in the dugout with his head in his hands. These results meant Scotland had to defeat the Netherlands by three clear goals to progress. Despite the Dutch taking the lead, Scotland fought back to win 3–2 with a goal from Kenny Dalglish and two from Archie Gemmill, the second of which is considered one of the greatest World Cup goals ever; Gemmill beat three Dutch defenders before lifting the ball over goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed into the net. The victory was not sufficient to secure a place in the second round, and Scotland were eliminated on goal difference for the second successive World Cup.


title: Scotland national football team

text: MacLeod resigned as manager shortly after the 1978 World Cup, and Jock Stein, who had won nine consecutive Scottish league titles and the European Cup as manager of Celtic, was appointed as his successor. After failing to qualify for the 1980 European Championship, Scotland qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup from a tough group including Sweden, Portugal, Israel and Northern Ireland, losing just one match in the process. They beat New Zealand 5–2 in their first game at the World Cup, but lost 4–1 to a Brazil team containing Sócrates, Zico, Eder and Falcão. Scotland were again eliminated on goal difference, after a 2–2 draw with the Soviet Union.


title: Scotland national football team

text: Scotland qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, their fourth in succession, in traumatic circumstances. The squad went into their last qualification match against Wales needing a point to progress to a qualifying playoff against Australia. With only nine minutes remaining and Wales leading 1–0, Scotland were awarded a penalty kick, which was calmly scored by Davie Cooper. The 1–1 draw meant that Scotland progressed, but as the players and fans celebrated, Stein suffered a heart attack and died shortly afterwards. His assistant Alex Ferguson took over. Scotland qualified by winning 2–0 against Australia in a two-leg playoff, but were eliminated from the tournament with just one point from their three matches, a goalless draw with Uruguay following defeats by Denmark and West Germany.


title: Scotland national football team

text: In July 1986, Andy Roxburgh was the surprise appointment as the new manager of Scotland. Scotland did not succeed in qualifying for Euro 1988, but their 1–0 away win over Bulgaria in the final fixture in November 1987 helped Ireland to a surprise first-place finish and qualification for the finals in West Germany.


title: Scotland national football team

text: Scotland qualified for their fifth consecutive World Cup in 1990 by finishing second in their qualifying group, ahead of France. Scotland were drawn in a group with Costa Rica, Sweden, and Brazil, but the Scots lost 1–0 to Costa Rica. While they recovered to beat Sweden 2–1 in their second game, they lost to Brazil in their third match 1–0 and were again eliminated after the first round.


title: Scotland national football team

text: By a narrow margin, Scotland qualified for the UEFA European Championship for the first time in 1992. A 1–0 defeat by Romania away from home left qualification dependent upon other results, but a 1–1 draw between Bulgaria and Romania in the final group match saw Scotland squeeze through. Despite playing well in matches against the Netherlands and Germany and a fine win against the CIS, the team was knocked out at the group stage. Scotland failed to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The team finished fourth in their qualifying group behind Italy, Switzerland and Portugal. When it became clear that Scotland could not qualify, Andy Roxburgh resigned from his position as team manager.


title: Scotland national football team

text: New manager Craig Brown successfully guided Scotland to the 1996 European Championship tournament. The first game against the Netherlands ended 0–0, raising morale ahead of a much anticipated game against England at Wembley. Gary McAllister missed a penalty kick, and a goal by Paul Gascoigne led to a 2–0 defeat. Scotland recovered to beat Switzerland 1–0 with a goal by Ally McCoist. England taking a 4–0 lead in the other match briefly put both teams in a position to qualify, but a late goal for the Netherlands meant that Scotland were knocked out on goals scored.


title: Scotland national football team

text: Brown again guided Scotland to qualification for a major tournament in 1998, and Scotland were drawn against Brazil in the opening game of the 1998 World Cup. John Collins equalised from the penalty spot to level the score at 1–1, but a Tom Boyd own goal led to a 2–1 defeat. Scotland drew their next game 1–1 with Norway in Bordeaux, but the final match against Morocco ended in an embarrassing 3–0 defeat.


title: Scotland national football team

text: During the qualification for the 2000 European Championship, Scotland faced England in a two-legged playoff nicknamed the "Battle of Britain" by the media. Scotland won the second match 1–0 with a goal by Don Hutchison, but lost the tie 2–1 on aggregate.