title: Political party

text: The number of people involved in choosing party leaders varies widely across parties and across countries. On one extreme, party leaders might be selected from the entire electorate; on the opposite extreme, they might be selected by just one individual. Selection by a smaller group can be a feature of party leadership transitions in more autocratic countries, where the existence of political parties may be severely constrained to only one legal political party, or only one competitive party. Some of these parties, like the Chinese Communist Party, have rigid methods for selecting the next party leader, which involves selection by other party members. A small number of single-party states have hereditary succession, where party leadership is inherited by the child of an outgoing party leader. Autocratic parties use more restrictive selection methods to avoid having major shifts in the regime as a result of successions.


title: Political party

text: In both democratic and non-democratic countries, the party leader is often the foremost member of a larger party leadership. A party executive will commonly include administrative positions, like a party secretary and a party chair, who may be different people from the party leader. These executive organizations may serve to constrain the party leader, especially if that leader is an autocrat. It is common for political parties to conduct major leadership decisions, like selecting a party executive and setting their policy goals, during regular party conferences.


title: Political party

text: Much as party leaders who are not in power are usually at least nominally competing to become the head of government, the entire party executive may be competing for various positions in the government. For example, in Westminster systems, the largest party that is out of power will form the Official Opposition in parliament, and select a shadow cabinet which (among other functions) provides a signal about which members of the party would hold which positions in the government if the party were to win an election.


title: Political party

text: Citizens in a democracy will often affiliate with a specific political party. Party membership may include paying dues, an agreement not to affiliate with multiple parties at the same time, and sometimes a statement of agreement with the party's policies and platform. In democratic countries, members of political parties often are allowed to participate in elections to choose the party leadership. Party members may form the base of the volunteer activists and donors who support political parties during campaigns. The extent of participation in party organizations can be affected by a country's political institutions, with certain electoral systems and party systems encouraging higher party membership. Since at least the 1980s, membership in large traditional party organizations has been steadily declining across a number of countries, particularly longstanding European democracies.


title: Political party

text: Political scientists have distinguished between different types of political parties that have evolved throughout history. These include cadre parties, mass parties, catch-all parties and cartel parties. Cadre parties were political elites that were concerned with contesting elections and restricted the influence of outsiders, who were only required to assist in election campaigns. Mass parties tried to recruit new members who were a source of party income and were often expected to spread party ideology as well as assist in elections. In the United States, where both major parties were cadre parties, the introduction of primaries and other reforms has transformed them so that power is held by activists who compete over influence and nomination of candidates.


title: Political party

text: A cadre party, or elite party, is a type of political party that was dominant in the nineteenth century before the introduction of universal suffrage. The French political scientist Maurice Duverger first distinguished between "cadre" and "mass" parties, founding his distinction on the differences within the organisational structures of these two types. Cadre parties are characterized by minimal and loose organisation, and are financed by fewer larger monetary contributions typically originating from outside the party. Cadre parties give little priority to expanding the party's membership base, and its leaders are its only members. The earliest political parties, such as the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists, are classified as cadre parties.


title: Political party

text: A mass party is a type of political party that developed around cleavages in society and mobilized the ordinary citizens or 'masses' in the political process. In Europe, the introduction of universal suffrage resulted in the creation of worker's parties that later evolved into mass parties; an example is the German Social Democratic Party. These parties represented large groups of citizens who had not previously been represented in political processes, articulating the interests of different groups in society. In contrast to cadre parties, mass parties are funded by their members, and rely on and maintain a large membership base. Further, mass parties prioritize the mobilization of voters and are more centralized than cadre parties.


title: Political party

text: The term "catch-all party" was developed by German-American political scientist Otto Kirchheimer to describe the parties that developed in the 1950s and 1960s as a result of changes within the mass parties. The term "big tent party" may be used interchangeably. Kirchheimer characterized the shift from the traditional mass parties to catch-all parties as a set of developments including the "drastic reduction of the party's ideological baggage" and the "downgrading of the role of the individual party member". By broadening their central ideologies into more open-ended ones, catch-all parties seek to secure the support of a wider section of the population. Further, the role of members is reduced as catch-all parties are financed in part by the state or by donations. In Europe, the shift of Christian Democratic parties that were organized around religion into broader centre-right parties epitomizes this type.


title: Political party

text: Cartel parties are a type of political party that emerged post-1970s and are characterized by heavy state financing and the diminished role of ideology as an organizing principle. The cartel party thesis was developed by Richard Katz and Peter Mair, who wrote that political parties have turned into "semi-state agencies", acting on behalf of the state rather than groups in society. The term 'cartel' refers to the way in which prominent parties in government make it difficult for new parties to enter, as such forming a cartel of established parties. As with catch-all parties, the role of members in cartel parties is largely insignificant as parties use the resources of the state to maintain their position within the political system.


title: Political party

text: Niche parties are a type of political party that developed on the basis of the emergence of new cleavages and issues in politics, such as immigration and the environment. In contrast to mainstream or catch-all parties, niche parties articulate an often limited set of interests in a way that does not conform to the dominant economic left-right divide in politics, in turn emphasising issues that do not attain prominence within the other parties. Further, niche parties do not respond to changes in public opinion to the extent that mainstream parties do. Examples of niche parties include Green parties and extreme nationalist parties, such as the National Rally in France. However, over time these parties may grow in size and shed some of their niche qualities as they become larger, a phenonmenon observable among European Green parties during their transformation from radical environmentalist movements to mainstream centre-left parties.


title: Political party

text: An Entrepreneurial party is a political party that is centered on a political entrepreneur, and dedicated to the advancement of that person or their policies. While some definitions of political parties state that a party is an organization that advances a specific set of ideological or policy goals, many political parties are not primarily motivated by ideology or policy, and instead exist to advance the career of a specific political entrepreneur.


title: Political party

text: Political ideologies are one of the major organizing features of political parties, and parties often officially align themselves with specific ideologies. Parties adopt ideologies for a number of reasons. Ideological affiliations for political parties send signals about the types of policies they might pursue if they were in power. Ideologies also differentiate parties from one another, so that voters can select the party that advances the policies that they most prefer. A party may also seek to advance an ideology by convincing voters to adopt its belief system.


title: Political party

text: Common ideologies that can form a central part of the identity of a political party include liberalism, conservatism, socialism, communism, anarchism, fascism, feminism, environmentalism, nationalism, fundamentalism, Islamism, and multiculturalism. Liberalism is the ideology that is most closely connected to the history of democracies and is often considered to be the dominant or default ideology of governing parties in much of the contemporary world. Many of the traditional competitors to liberal parties are conservative parties. Socialist, communist, anarchist, fascist, and nationalist parties are more recent developments, largely entering political competitions only in the 19th and 20th centuries. Feminism, environmentalism, multiculturalism, and certain types of fundamentalism became prominent towards the end of the 20th century.


title: Political party

text: Parties can sometimes be organized according to their ideology using an economic left–right political spectrum. However, a simple left-right economic axis does not fully capture the variation in party ideologies. Other common axes that are used to compare the ideologies of political parties include ranges from liberal to authoritarian, from pro-establishment to anti-establishment, and from tolerant and pluralistic (in their behavior while participating in the political arena) to anti-system.


title: Political party

text: Though ideologies are central to a large number of political parties around the world, not all political parties have an organizing ideology, or exist to promote ideological policies. For example, some political parties may be clientelistic or patronage-based organizations, which are largely concerned with distributing goods. Other political parties may be created as tools for the advancement of an individual politician. It is also common, in countries with important social cleavages along ethnic or racial lines, to represent the interests of one ethnic group or another. This may involve a non-ideological attachment to the interests of that group, or may be a commitment based on an ideology like identity politics. While any of these types of parties may be ideological, there are political parties that do not have any organizing ideology.


title: Political party

text: Political parties are ubiquitous across both democratic and autocratic countries, and there is often very little change in which political parties have a chance of holding power in a country from one election to the next. This makes it possible to think about the political parties in a country as collectively forming one of the country's central political institutions, called a party system. Some basic features of a party system are the number of parties and what sorts of parties are the most successful. These properties are closely connected to other major features of the country's politics, such as how democratic it is, what sorts of restrictions its laws impose on political parties, and what type of electoral systems it uses. Even in countries where the number of political parties is not officially constrained by law, political institutions affect how many parties are viable. For example, democracies that use a single-member district electoral system tend to have very few parties, whereas countries that use proportional representation tend to have more. The number of parties in a country can also be accurately estimated based on the magnitude of a country's electoral districts and the number of seats in its legislature.


title: Political party

text: An informative way to classify the party systems of the world is by how many parties they include. Because some party systems include a large number of parties that have a very low probability of winning elections, it is often useful to think about the effective number of parties (the number of parties weighted by the strength of those parties) rather than the literal number of registered parties.


title: Political party

text: In a non-partisan system, no political parties exist, or political parties are not a major part of the political system. There are very few countries without political parties.


title: Political party

text: In some non-partisan countries, the formation of parties is explicitly banned by law. The existence of political parties may be banned in autocratic countries in order to prevent a turnover in power. For example, in Saudi Arabia, a ban on political parties has been used as a tool for protecting the monarchy. However, parties are also banned in some polities that have long democratic histories, usually in local or regional elections of countries that have strong national party systems.


title: Political party

text: Political parties may also temporarily cease to exist in countries that have either only been established recently, or that have experienced a major upheaval in their politics and have not yet returned to a stable system of political parties. For example, the United States began as a non-partisan democracy, and it evolved a stable system of political parties over the course of many decades. A country's party system may also dissolve and take time to re-form, leaving a period of minimal or no party system, such as in Peru following the regime of Alberto Fujimori. However, it is also possiblealbeit rarefor countries with no bans on political parties, and which have not experienced a major disruption, to nevertheless have no political parties: there are a small number of pacific island democracies, such as Palau, where political parties are permitted to exist and yet parties are not an important part of national politics.


title: Political party

text: In a one-party system, power is held entirely by one political party. When only one political party exists, it may be the result of a ban on the formation of any competing political parties, which is a common feature in authoritarian states. For example, the Communist Party of Cuba is the only permitted political party in Cuba, and is the only party that can hold seats in the legislature. When only one powerful party is legally permitted to exist, its membership can grow to contain a very large portion of society and it can play substantial roles in civil society that are not necessarily directly related to political governance; one example of this is the Chinese Communist Party. Bans on competing parties can also ensure that only one party can ever realistically hold power, even without completely outlawing all other political parties. For example, in North Korea, more than one party is officially permitted to exist and even to seat members in the legislature, but laws ensure that the Workers' Party of Korea retains control.


title: Political party

text: It is also possible for countries with free elections to have only one party that holds power. These cases are sometimes called dominant-party systems or particracies. Scholars have debated whether or not a country that has never experienced a transfer of power from one party to another can nevertheless be considered a democracy. There have been periods of government exclusively or entirely by one party in some countries that are often considered to have been democratic, and which had no official legal barriers to the inclusion of other parties in the government; this includes recent periods in Botswana, Japan, Mexico, Senegal, and South Africa. It can also occur that one political party dominates a sub-national region of a democratic country that has a competitive national party system; one example is the southern United States during much of the 19th and 20th centuries, where the Democratic Party had almost complete control, with the Southern states being functionally one-party regimes, though opposition parties were never prohibited.


title: Political party

text: In several countries, there are only two parties that have a realistic chance of competing to form government. One canonical two-party democracy is the United States, where the national government has for much of the country's history exclusively controlled by either the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Other examples of countries which have had long periods of two-party dominance include Colombia, Uruguay, Malta, and Ghana. Two-party systems are not limited to democracies; they may be present in authoritarian regimes as well. Competition between two parties has occurred in historical autocratic regimes in countries including Brazil and Venezuela.


title: Political party

text: A democracy's political institutions can shape the number of parties that it has. In the 1950s Maurice Duverger observed that single-member district single-vote plurality-rule elections tend to produce two-party systems, and this phenomenon came to be known as Duverger's law. Whether or not this pattern is true has been heavily debated over the last several decades. Some political scientists have broadened this idea to argue that more restrictive political institutions (of which first past the post is one example) tend to produce a smaller number of political parties, so that extremely small parties systems – like those with only two parties – tend to form in countries with very restrictive rules.


title: Political party

text: Two-party systems have attracted heavy criticism for limiting the choices that electors have, and much of this criticism has centered around their association with restrictive political institutions. For example, some commentators argue that political institutions in prominent two-party systems like the United States have been specifically designed to ensure that no third party can become competitive. Criticisms also center around these systems' tendencies to encourage insincere voting and to facilitate the spoiler effect.


title: Political party

text: Multi-party systems are systems in which more than two parties have a realistic chance of holding power and influencing policy. A very large number of systems around the world have had periods of multi-party competition, and two-party democracies may be considered unusual or uncommon compared to multi-party systems. Many of the largest democracies in the world have had long periods of multi-party competition, including India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Brazil. Multi-party systems encourage characteristically different types of governance than smaller party systems, for example by often encouraging the formation of coalition governments.


title: Political party

text: The presence of many competing political parties is usually associated with a greater level of democracy, and a country transitioning from having a one-party system to having a many-party system is often considered to be democratizing. Authoritarian countries can include multi-party competition, but typically this occurs when the elections are not fair. For this reason, in two-party democracies like the United States, proponents of forming new competitive political parties often argue that developing a multi-party system would make the country more democratic. However, the question of whether multi-party systems are more democratic than two-party systems, or if they enjoy better policy outcomes, is a subject of substantial disagreement among scholars as well as among the public. In the opposite extreme, a country with a very large number of parties can experience governing coalitions that include highly ideologically diverse parties that are unable to make much policy progress, which may cause the country to be unstable and experience a very large number of elections; examples of systems that have been described as having these problems include periods in the recent history of Israel, Italy, and Finland. Multi-party systems are often viewed as fairer or more representative than one- or two-party systems, but they also have downsides, like the likelihood that in a system with plurality voting the winner of a race with many options will only have minority support.


title: Political party

text: Some multi-party systems may have two parties that are noticeably more competitive than the other parties. Such party systems have been called "two-party-plus" systems, which refers to the two dominant parties, plus other parties that exist but rarely or never hold power in the government. Such parties may serve a crucial factor in election outcomes. It is also possible for very large multi-party systems, like India's, to nevertheless be characterized largely by a series of regional contests that realistically have only two competitive parties, but in the aggregate can produce many more than two parties that have major roles in the country's national politics.


title: Political party

text: Many of the activities of political parties involve the acquisition and allocation of funds in order to achieve political goals. The funding involved can be very substantial, with contemporary elections in the largest democracies typically costing billions or even tens of billions of dollars. Much of this expense is paid by candidates and political parties, which often develop sophisticated fundraising organizations. Because paying for participation in electoral contests is such a central democratic activity, the funding of political parties is an important feature of a country's politics.


title: Political party

text: Common sources of party funding across countries include dues-paying party members, advocacy groups and lobbying organizations, corporations, trade unions, and candidates who may self-fund activities. In most countries, the government also provides some level of funding for political parties. Nearly all of the 180 countries examined by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance have some form of public funding for political parties, and about a third have regular payments of government funds that goes beyond campaign reimbursements. In some countries, public funding for parties depends on the size of that party: for example, a country may only provide funding to parties which have more than a certain number of candidates or supporters. A common argument for public funding of political parties is that it creates fairer and more democratic elections by enabling more groups to compete, whereas many advocates for private funding of parties argue that donations to parties are a form of political expression that should be protected in a democracy. Public financing of political parties may decrease parties' pursuit of funds through corrupt methods, by decreasing their incentive to find alternate sources of funding.


title: Political party

text: One way of categorizing the sources of party funding is between public funding and private funding. Another dichotomy is between plutocratic and grassroots sources; parties which get much of their funding from large corporations may tend to pursue different policies and use different strategies than parties which are mostly funded through small donations by individual supporters. Private funding for political parties can also be thought of as coming from internal or external sources: this distinguishes between dues from party members or contributions by candidates, and donations from entities outside of the party like non-members, corporations, or trade unions. Internal funding may be preferred because external sources might make the party beholden to an outside entity.


title: Political party

text: There are many ways in which political parties may deploy money in order to secure better electoral outcomes. Parties often spend money to train activists, recruit volunteers, create and deploy advertisements, conduct research and support for their leadership in between elections, and promote their policy agenda. Many political parties and candidates engage in a practice called clientelism, in which they distribute material rewards to people in exchange for political support; in many countries this is illegal, though even where it is illegal it may nevertheless be widespread in practice. Some parties engage directly in vote buying, in which a party gives money to a person in exchange for their vote.


title: Political party

text: Though it may be crucial for a party to spend more than some threshold to win a given election, there are typically diminishing returns for expenses during a campaign. Once a party has crossed a particular spending threshold, additional expenditures might not increase their chance of success.


title: Political party

text: Fundraising and expenditures by political parties are typically regulated by governments, with many countries' regulations focusing on who can contribute money to parties, how parties' money can be spent, and how much of it can pass through the hands of a political party. Two main ways in which regulations affect parties are by intervening in their sources of income and by mandating that they maintain some level of transparency about their funding. One common type of restriction on how parties acquire money is to limit who can donate money to political parties; for example, people who are not citizens of a country may not be allowed to make contributions to that country's political parties, in order to prevent foreign interference. It is also common to limit how much money an individual can give to a political party each election. Similarly, many governments cap the total amount of money that can be spent by each party in an election. Transparency regulations may require parties to disclose detailed financial information to the government, and in many countries transparency laws require those disclosures to be available to the public, as a safeguard against potential corruption. Creating, implementing, and amending laws regarding party expenses can be extremely difficult, since governments may be controlled by the very parties that these regulations restrict.


title: Political party

text: Nearly all political parties associate themselves with specific colours and symbols, primarily to aid voters in identifying, recognizing, and remembering the party. This branding is particularly important in polities where much of the population may be illiterate, so that someone who cannot read a party's name on a ballot can instead identify that party by colour or logo. Parties of similar ideologies will often use the same colours across different countries. Colour associations are useful as a short-hand for referring to and representing parties in graphical media. They can also be used to refer to coalitions and alliances between political parties and other organizations; examples include purple alliances, red–green alliances, traffic light coalitions, pan-green coalitions, and pan-blue coalitions.


title: Political party

text: However, associations between colour and ideology can also be inconsistent: parties of the same ideology in different countries often use different colours, and sometimes competing parties in a country may even adopt the same colours. These associations also have major exceptions. For example, in the United States, red is associated with the more conservative Republican Party while blue is associated with the more left-leaning Democratic Party.


title: David Sedaris

text: David Raymond Sedaris (; born December 26, 1956) is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay "Santaland Diaries.” He published his first collection of essays and short stories, "Barrel Fever", in 1994. His next book, "Naked" (1997), became his first of a series of "New York Times" Bestsellers, and his 2000 collection "Me Talk Pretty One Day" won the Thurber Prize for American Humor.


title: David Sedaris

text: Much of Sedaris's humor is ostensibly autobiographical and self-deprecating and often concerns his family life, his middle-class upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, his Greek heritage, homosexuality, jobs, education, drug use, and obsessive behaviors, as well as his life in France, London, New York, and the South Downs in England. He is the brother and writing collaborator of actress Amy Sedaris.


title: David Sedaris

text: Sedaris was born in Johnson City, New York to Sharon Elizabeth (née Leonard) and Louis Harry "Lou" Sedaris (1923–2021), an IBM engineer. His mother was Anglo-American. His father was born in the U.S. to immigrants from Apidea in Greece. His mother was Protestant, and his father was Greek Orthodox, which was the faith in which David was raised.


title: David Sedaris

text: The Sedaris family moved when David was young, and he grew up in a suburban area of Raleigh, the second oldest child of six. His siblings, from oldest to youngest, are Lisa, Gretchen, Amy, Tiffany, and Paul ("the Rooster"). Tiffany died by suicide in 2013, a subject David deals with in the essay "Now We Are Five,” which was published in "The New Yorker".


title: David Sedaris

text: After graduating from Jesse O. Sanderson High School in Raleigh, Sedaris briefly attended Western Carolina University before transferring to and dropping out of Kent State University in 1977. In his teens and twenties, David dabbled in visual and performance art. He describes his lack of success in several of his essays.


title: David Sedaris

text: He moved to Chicago in 1983 and graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1987. (He did not attend Princeton University, although he spoke fondly of doing so in "What I Learned,” a comic baccalaureate address delivered at Princeton in June 2006).


title: David Sedaris

text: While working odd jobs in Raleigh, Chicago, and New York City, Sedaris was discovered in a Chicago club by radio host Ira Glass. Sedaris was reading a diary he had kept since 1977. Impressed with his work, Glass asked him to appear on his weekly local program, "The Wild Room". Referring to the opportunity, Sedaris said, "I owe everything to Ira... My life just changed completely, like someone waved a magic wand." Sedaris's success on "The Wild Room" led to his National Public Radio debut on December 23, 1992, when he read a radio essay on "Morning Edition" titled "Santaland Diaries,” which described his purported experiences as an elf at Macy's department store during Christmas in New York.


title: David Sedaris

text: "Santaland Diaries" was a success with listeners and made Sedaris what "The New York Times" called "a minor phenomenon.” He began recording a monthly segment for NPR, which was based on his diary entries and was edited and produced by Glass, and he also signed a two book deal with Little, Brown and Company. In 1993, Sedaris told "The New York Times" he was publishing his first book, a collection of stories and essays, and he had 70 pages written of his second book, a novel "about a man who keeps a diary and whom Mr. Sedaris described as 'not me, but a lot like me'."


title: David Sedaris

text: In 1994, Sedaris published "Barrel Fever", a collection of stories and essays. He became a frequent contributor when Ira Glass began a weekly hour-long PRI/Chicago Public Radio show, "This American Life", in 1995. Sedaris began writing essays for "Esquire" and "The New Yorker". In 1997, he published another collection of essays, "Naked", which won the Randy Shilts Award for Gay Non-Fiction from Publishing Triangle in 1998.


title: David Sedaris

text: "Naked" and his subsequent four essay collections, "Holidays on Ice" (1997), "Me Talk Pretty One Day" (2000), "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" (2004), and "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" (2008), became "New York Times" Best Sellers.


title: David Sedaris

text: "Me Talk Pretty One Day" was written mostly in France, over seven months, and it was published in 2000 to "practically unanimous rave reviews." For that book, Sedaris won the 2001 Thurber Prize for American Humor.


title: David Sedaris

text: In April 2001, "Variety" reported Sedaris had sold the "Me Talk Pretty One Day" film rights to director Wayne Wang, who was adapting four stories from the book for Columbia Pictures. Wang had completed the script and begun casting when Sedaris asked to "get out of it,” after he and his sister worried how their family might be portrayed. He wrote about the conversation and its aftermath in the essay "Repeat After Me.” Sedaris recounted that Wang was "a real prince... I didn't want him to be mad at me, but he was so grown up about it. I never saw how it could be turned into a movie anyway."


title: David Sedaris

text: In 2004, Sedaris published "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim", which reached number 1 on "The New York Times" Nonfiction Best Seller List in June of that year. The audiobook of "Dress Your Family", read by Sedaris, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. The same year, Sedaris was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for his recording "Live at Carnegie Hall". In March 2006, Ira Glass said that Sedaris's next book would be a collection of animal fables; during that year, Sedaris included several animal fables in his US book tour, and three of his fables were broadcast on "This American Life".


title: David Sedaris

text: In September 2007, a new Sedaris collection was announced for publication the following year. The collection's working title was "All the Beauty You Will Ever Need", but Sedaris retitled it "Indefinite Leave to Remain" and finally settled on the title "When You Are Engulfed in Flames". Although at least one news source assumed the book would be fables, Sedaris said in October 2007 that the collection might include a "surprisingly brief story about [his] decision to quit smoking,” along with other stories about various topics, including chimpanzees at a typing school, and people visiting [him] in France. The book was described as his darkest as, it dealt with themes of death and dying.


title: David Sedaris

text: In April 2010, BBC Radio 4 aired "Meet David Sedaris", a four-part series of essays, which Sedaris read before a live audience. A second series of six programs began airing on BBC Radio 4 Extra in June 2011, with a third series beginning in September 2012. In July 2017, the sixth series was aired on BBC Radio 4 Extra. In 2010, he released a collection of stories, "". Sedaris released a collection of essays, "Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls", in 2013 and, in 2017, published a collection of his 1977–2002 diaries, "Theft By Finding". Also in 2013, the film adaptation of an essay from "Naked" was released as a feature-length movie, "C.O.G."


title: David Sedaris

text: In July 2011, Sedaris's essay "Chicken Toenails, Anyone,” published in "The Guardian", garnered some criticism over concerns that it was insensitive towards China and Chinese culture.


title: David Sedaris

text: A frequent guest of late-night US talk show host Craig Ferguson, in April 2012, Sedaris joined Ferguson and the cast of CBS's "The Late, Late Show" in Scotland for a theme week filmed in and around Cumbernauld and in Edinburgh. The five weeknight episodes aired in May 2012.


title: David Sedaris

text: In 2014, he participated in "Do I Sound Gay?", a documentary film by David Thorpe about stereotypes of gay men's speech patterns.


title: David Sedaris

text: He appeared along with his sister Amy as special guest judges on season 8, episode 8, of "RuPaul's Drag Race". He also appeared as a guest in the Adult Swim television series "FishCenter Live".


title: David Sedaris

text: Sedaris guest starred on the Netflix animated comedy-drama series "BoJack Horseman" as the mother of Princess Carolyn, voiced by Amy Sedaris.


title: David Sedaris

text: In 2022, he published "Happy Go Lucky", where he reflected on his relationship with his recently deceased father.


title: David Sedaris

text: In 2007, in an article in "The New Republic", Alexander S. Heard stated that much of Sedaris's work is insufficiently factual to justify being marketed as nonfiction. Several published responses to Heard's article argued that Sedaris's readers are aware that his descriptions and stories are intentionally exaggerated and manipulated to maximize comic effect, while others used the controversy as a springboard for discussing the liberties publishers are willing to take when calling books "nonfiction".


title: David Sedaris

text: Subsequently, in the wake of a controversy involving Mike Daisey's dramatizing and embellishing his personal experiences at Chinese factories, during an excerpt from his theatrical monologue for "This American Life", new attention has been paid to the veracity of Sedaris's nonfiction stories. NPR labels stories from Sedaris, such as "Santaland Diaries", as fiction, while "This American Life" fact checks stories, to the extent that memories and long-ago conversations can be checked. "The New Yorker" already subjects nonfiction stories written for that magazine to its comprehensive fact-checking policy.


title: David Sedaris

text: Sedaris has written several plays with his sister, actress Amy Sedaris, under the name "The Talent Family". These include "Stump the Host" (1993), "Stitches" (1994), "One Woman Shoe", which co-starred David Rakoff (1995)<ref name="Brantley, NYT, 1/26/1995"></ref> and "The Little Frieda Mysteries" (1997). All were produced and presented by Meryl Vladimer while she was the artistic director of "the CLUB" at La MaMa, E.T.C. "The Book of Liz" (2001) was written by Sedaris and his sister, Amy and produced by Drama Dept. at The Greenwich Theater in New York.


title: David Sedaris

text: , Sedaris lives in Rackham, West Sussex, England with his longtime partner, painter and set designer Hugh Hamrick. Sedaris mentions Hamrick in a number of his stories, and describes the two of them as the "sort of couple who wouldn't get married."


title: David Sedaris

text: Sedaris is known to regularly wear a headlamp at night and spend hours removing litter from roads and highways near Rackham. Because of this hobby he is known locally as "Pig Pen" and has a waste vehicle named after him.


title: Mojang Studios

text: Mojang Studios is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm. The studio is best known for developing the sandbox and survival game "Minecraft", the best-selling video game of all time.


title: Mojang Studios

text: Mojang Studios was founded by the independent video game designer Markus Persson in 2009 as Mojang Specifications for "Minecraft"s development. The studio inherited its name from another video game venture Persson had left two years prior. Following the game's initial release, Persson, in conjunction with Jakob Porsér, incorporated the business as Mojang AB in late 2010, and hired Carl Manneh as the company's chief executive officer. Other early hires included Daniel Kaplan and Jens Bergensten. "Minecraft" became highly successful, giving Mojang sustained growth. With a desire to move on from the game, Persson offered to sell his share in Mojang, and the company was acquired by Microsoft in November 2014. Persson, Porsér, and Manneh subsequently left Mojang, with Jonas Mårtensson replacing Manneh. In May 2020, Mojang was rebranded as Mojang Studios.


title: Mojang Studios

text: As of 2021, the company employs approximately 600 people. Executives include chief executive officer Mårtensson and studio head Helen Chiang. Apart from "Minecraft", Mojang Studios has developed "Caller's Bane", "Crown and Council", and further games in the "Minecraft" franchise: "Minecraft Dungeons", the upcoming "Minecraft Legends", and the cancelled "Minecraft Earth". It also released smaller games as part of game jams organised by Humble Bundle and published the externally developed "Cobalt" and "Cobalt WASD".


title: Mojang Studios

text: Mojang Studios was founded by Markus Persson, a Swedish independent video game designer and programmer, in 2009. He had gained interest in video games at an early age, playing "The Bard's Tale" and several pirated games on his father's Commodore 128 home computer, and learned to programme at age eight with help from his sister. Because he was a "loner" in school, he spent most of his spare time with games and programming at home. Following his graduation and a few years of working as a web developer, Persson created "Wurm Online", a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, with colleague Rolf Jansson in 2003. They used the name "Mojang Specifications" during the development and, as the game started turning a profit, incorporated the company Mojang Specifications AB (an aktiebolag) in 2007. Persson left the project later that year and wished to reuse the name, so Jansson renamed the company Onetoofree AB and later Code Club AB. Meanwhile, Persson had joined Midas, later known as King.com, where he developed 25–30 games. He departed the company when he was barred from creating games in his free time.


title: Mojang Studios

text: In May 2009, Persson began working on a clone of "Infiniminer", a game developed by Zachtronics and released earlier that year. Persson reused assets and parts of the engine code from an earlier personal project and released the first alpha version of the game, now titled "Minecraft", on 17 May 2009, followed by the first commercial version on 13 June 2009. He reused the name "Mojang Specifications" for this release. In less than a month, "Minecraft" had generated enough revenue for Persson to take time off his day job, which he was able to quit entirely by May 2010. As all sales were processed through the game's website, he did not have to split income with third parties. The payment services provider PayPal temporarily disabled his account when it suspected fraud.


title: Mojang Studios

text: In September 2010, Persson travelled to Bellevue, Washington, to the offices of video game company Valve, where he took part in a programming exercise and met with Gabe Newell, before being offered a job at the company. He turned down the offer and instead contacted Jakob Porsér, a former colleague from King.com, to ask for aid in establishing a business out of Mojang Specifications. In response, Porsér stated that he would quit his job the following day, and they subsequently incorporated Mojang AB. While Persson continued working on "Minecraft", Porsér would develop "Scrolls", a digital collectable card game. Wishing to focus on game development, they hired Carl Manneh, the manager of jAlbum, Persson's previous employer, as chief executive officer. Other significant early hires included Daniel Kaplan as business developer, Markus Toivonen as an art director, and Jens Bergensten as lead programmer.


title: Mojang Studios

text: In January 2011, "Minecraft" reached one million registered accounts and ten million six months thereafter. The continued success led Mojang to start the development of a new version for mobile devices. Due to the incompatibility of the game's Java-based framework with mobile devices, this version was programmed in C++ instead. Another version, initially developed for Xbox 360, was outsourced to Scotland-based developer 4J Studios, which also used C++. "Scrolls" was announced by Mojang in March 2011. The studio's attempt to trademark the game's name resulted in a dispute with ZeniMax Media, which cited similarities between the game's name and that of the ZeniMax-owned "The Elder Scrolls" series. Kaplan stated in May 2011 that, due to many such requests in the past, Mojang was planning to publish or co-publish games from other indie game studios. Its first, "Cobalt" from Oxeye Game Studio, was announced in August. An early version of the game was made available in December 2011, with the full game released in February 2016 for Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Windows. A multiplayer-focused spin-off, "Cobalt WASD", was also developed by Oxeye Game Studio and released by Mojang for Windows in November 2017 after some time in early access.


title: Mojang Studios

text: For the full release of "Minecraft", Mojang held Minecon, a dedicated convention event, in Las Vegas on 18–19 November 2011, with "Minecraft" formally being released during a presentation on the first day. Thereafter, Minecon was turned into an annual event. Following "Minecraft"s full release, Persson transferred his role as lead designer for the game to Bergensten in December 2011.


title: Mojang Studios

text: Around this time, Manneh had discussion with a plethora of venture capital firms, including Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners, but turned all of them down as the company did not require any funds. Sean Parker, the co-founder of Napster and former president of Facebook, Inc., offered to privately invest in Mojang in 2011 but was turned down as well. At the time, the studio ruled out being sold or becoming a public company to maintain its independence, which was said to have heavily contributed to "Minecraft"s success. By March 2012, "Minecraft" had sold five million copies, amounting to in revenue. In November, Mojang had 25 employees, and total revenues of in 2012. In 2013, it released an education-focused version of "Minecraft" for Raspberry Pi devices, and—after the exclusivity clause penned with Microsoft over the availability of the game's console edition on Microsoft's platforms had expired—announced editions of the game for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita. In October 2013, Jonas Mårtensson, formerly of gambling company Betsson, was hired as Mojang's vice-president. That year, Mojang recorded revenues of , of which were profit.


title: Mojang Studios

text: Persson, exhausted from the pressure of being the owner of "Minecraft", published a tweet in June 2014, asking whether anyone would be willing to buy his share in Mojang. Several parties expressed interest in this offer, including Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Microsoft. Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft's Xbox division, urged Microsoft's newly appointed chief executive Satya Nadella to purchase Mojang to set out "a pretty bold vision" for Microsoft's gaming business. Furthermore, the company had in offshore bank accounts that it could not bring back to the United States without paying repatriation taxes. Nadella separately stated the possible use of "Minecraft" with the HoloLens, Microsoft's mixed reality device, to have been a major factor in pursuing the acquisition. The company first approached Mojang regarding a potential acquisition in June 2014, making its first offer shortly thereafter. Mojang subsequently hired advisers from JPMorgan Chase.


title: Mojang Studios

text: Microsoft's agreement to purchase Mojang for was announced on 15 September 2014. Persson, Porsér and Manneh were the only shareholders at this time, of whom Persson owned 71% of shares. The acquisition was finalised on 6 November and Mojang became part of the Microsoft Studios branch. As part of the transaction, Persson received , while Porsér and Manneh got and , respectively. All three subsequently left Mojang and Mårtensson succeeded Manneh. Every employee who remained with the company for six months thereafter was awarded a bonus of roughly (after taxes), deducted from Persson's share. Under the oversight of Microsoft's Matt Booty, Mojang's integration was minimal, leaving its operations independent but backed by Microsoft's financial and technical capabilities. The approach shaped how Microsoft would acquire other gaming companies.


title: Mojang Studios

text: "Scrolls" was released out-of-beta in December 2014 and development of further content ceased in 2015. Also in December 2014, Mojang and Telltale Games jointly announced a partnership in which the latter would develop "", an episodic, narrative-driven game set in the "Minecraft" universe. In April 2016, Mojang released "Crown and Council", a game entirely developed by artist Henrik Pettersson (who had been hired in August 2011), for free for Windows. An update in January 2017 introduced Linux and macOS versions. Mojang discontinued support for "Scrolls" online services in February 2018 and re-released the game under a free-to-play model and with the name "Caller's Bane" in June. Aiming to expand the "Minecraft" franchise with further games, Mojang developed two spin-offs: "Minecraft Dungeons", a dungeon crawler, and "Minecraft Earth", an augmented reality game in the vein of "Pokémon Go". They were announced in September 2018 and May 2019, respectively.


title: Mojang Studios

text: "Minecraft Classic", the original browser-based version of "Minecraft", was re-released for free on its ten-year anniversary in May 2019. By this time, "Minecraft" had sold 147 million copies, making it the best-selling video game of all time. Persson was explicitly excluded from the anniversary's festivities due to several controversial statements of his involving transphobia and other issues; an update for "Minecraft" released the March before also removed several references to Persson. On 17 May 2020, "Minecraft"s eleventh anniversary, Mojang announced its rebranding to Mojang Studios, aiming to reflect its multi-studio structure, and introduced a new logo. "Minecraft Dungeons" was released later that month for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. In June 2022, the studio announced the action-strategy game "Minecraft Legends".


title: Mojang Studios

text: Mojang partnered with Humble Bundle in 2012 to launch Mojam, a game jam event to raise money for charity, as part of which Mojang developed the shoot 'em up mini-game "Catacomb Snatch". 81,575 bundles including the game were sold, raising . The following year, Mojang developed three mini-games for Mojam 2. The studio also participated in Humble Bundle's Games Against Ebola game jam in 2014 with three further mini-games.


title: Mojang Studios

text: In 2011, Persson and Kaplan envisioned a hybrid of "Minecraft" and Lego bricks and agreed with the Lego Group to develop the game as "Brickcraft", codenamed "Rex Kwon Do" (in reference to the film "Napoleon Dynamite"). The game has also been described as a first-person shooter. Mojang hired two new programmers to work on the game, while a prototype was created by Persson. However, Mojang cancelled the project after six months. Upon announcing the cancellation in July 2012, Persson stated that the move was performed so that Mojang could focus on the games it wholly owned. Daniel Mathiasen, a Lego Group employee at the time, later blamed the cancellation on a series of legal hurdles that the Lego Group had put in place to protect the product's family-friendly image. Kaplan lamented that the staff at Mojang had felt more like consultants on the project, rather than its designers. The Lego Group also considered acquiring Mojang at this point but later decided against doing so as they had not foreseen that "Minecraft" would become as popular as it would at one point be.


title: Mojang Studios

text: In March 2012, Persson revealed that he would be designing a sandbox space trading and combat simulator in the likes of "Elite". Titled "0x10", it was to be set in the year 281,474,976,712,644 AD in a parallel universe. The project was shelved by August 2013, with Persson citing a lack of interest and a creative block. "Minecraft Earth" was made available as an early-access game in November 2019 for Android and iOS. In January 2021, it was announced that the game would be withdrawn from sale in June that year, with all player data deleted in July. Mojang Studios cited the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as primary reason for the game's closure, as its effects conflicted with the game's concept.


title: Mojang Studios

text: In August 2011, after Mojang had attempted to trademark the word "Scrolls" for their game, ZeniMax Media, the parent company of "The Elder Scrolls" publisher Bethesda Softworks, issued a cease and desist letter, claiming that "Scrolls" infringed on ZeniMax's "The Elder Scrolls" trademark, that Mojang could not use the name, and that ZeniMax would sue the studio over the word's usage. Persson offered to give up the trademark and add a subtitle to "Scrolls" name, however, as Mojang ignored the cease and desist letter, ZeniMax filed the lawsuit in September. Bethesda's Pete Hines stated that Bethesda was not responsible for the lawsuit, rather the issue was centred around "lawyers who understand it". Mojang won an interim injunction in October, the ruling being that "Scrolls" and "The Elder Scrolls" were too easy to differentiate, though ZeniMax could still appeal the ruling. In March 2012, Mojang and ZeniMax settled, with all "Scrolls" trademarks and trademark applications being transferred to ZeniMax, who would in turn licence the name to Mojang for use with "Scrolls" and add-on content, but not for sequels or any other games with similar names.


title: Mojang Studios

text: On 20 July 2012, Uniloc, a company specialising in digital rights management technologies, filed a lawsuit against Mojang, stating that the licence verification system in "Minecraft"s Android version infringed on one of Uniloc's patents. The case was "Uniloc USA, Inc. et al v. Mojang AB" and was filed with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. In response to hate mail, Uniloc founder Ric Richardson denied his involvement, claiming to have only filed the patent. The patent was invalidated in March 2016.


title: Mojang Studios

text: In July 2013, the minigolf chain Putt-Putt issued a cease and desist letter against Mojang and Don Mattrick (who was previously affiliated with "Minecraft"s Xbox 360 version but had since joined Zynga), alleging that they infringed on its "Putt-Putt" trademark. Attached to the letter, which Persson shared on Twitter, was a Google Search screenshot showing videos of user-created maps using the name. Alex Chapman, Mojang's lawyer, stated "I think there is clearly a misunderstanding here as to what "Minecraft" actually is. It's a game that, amongst other things, allows people to build things. Mojang doesn't control what users build and Mojang doesn't control the content of the videos users make. Suing Mojang for what people do using "Minecraft" is like suing Microsoft for what people do using Word."


title: Father's Day

text: Father's Day is a holiday of honoring fatherhood and paternal bonds, as well as the influence of fathers in society. In Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on 19 March as Saint Joseph's Day since the Middle Ages. In the United States, Father's Day was founded by Sonora Smart Dodd, and celebrated on the third Sunday of June for the first time in 1910. The day is held on various dates across the world, and different regions maintain their own traditions of honoring fatherhood.


title: Father's Day

text: Father's Day is a recognized public holiday in Lithuania and some parts of Spain and was regarded as such in Italy until 1977. It is a national holiday in Estonia, Samoa, and equivalently in South Korea, where it is celebrated as Parents' Day. The holiday complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Mother's Day, Siblings Day, and Grandparents' Day.


title: Father's Day

text: For centuries, the Eastern Orthodox Church has appointed the second Sunday before Nativity as the Sunday of the Forefathers to commemorate the ancestors of Christ according to the flesh, starting with Adam and emphasizing the Patriarch Abraham, to whom God said,


title: Father's Day

text: This feast can fall between 11 and 17 December. This feast includes the ancestors of the Mary, mother of Jesus and various prophets.


title: Father's Day

text: A customary day for the celebration of fatherhood in Catholic Europe is known to date back to at least 1508. It is usually celebrated on 19 March, as the feast day of Saint Joseph, who is referred to as the fatherly "Nutritor Domini" ("Nourisher of the Lord") in Catholicism and "the putative father of Jesus" in southern European tradition. This celebration was brought to the Americas by the Spanish and Portuguese. The Catholic Church actively supported the custom of a celebration of fatherhood on St. Joseph's Day from either the last years of the 14th century or from the early 15th century, apparently on the initiative of the Franciscans.


title: Father's Day

text: In the Coptic Orthodox Church, the celebration of fatherhood is also observed on St Joseph's Day, but the Copts observe this on 20 July. The Coptic celebration may date back to the fifth century.


title: Father's Day

text: Whether to celebrate this day worldwide or not remained a debatable topic. In 1908, Grace Golden Clayton proposed the day to honor those men who had lost their lives in a mining accident in the US. Though it was not accepted then, in 1909 Sonora Smart Dodd, who along with her five brothers was raised by her father alone, after attending Mother's Day in a church, convinced the Spokane Ministerial Association to celebrate Father's Day worldwide.


title: Father's Day

text: In addition to Father's Day, International Men's Day is celebrated in many countries on 19 November in honor of both men and boys.


title: Father's Day

text: In South Sudan, Father's Day is celebrated on the last Monday of August. President Salva Kiir Mayardit proclaimed it before 27 August 2012. First celebrated on 27 August 2012, Father's Day was not celebrated in South Sudan in 2011 (due to the country's independence).


title: Father's Day

text: In Bangladesh there is no historical tradition of celebrating Father's Day (Bengali/Bangla: বাবা/আব্বু দিবস, "Baba/abbu dibosh") and has been popularized by Western influences in the country. It is celebrated on the third Sunday of June, and is not a public holiday. Father's Day was not very popular and had been made more widespread by the Millennial and Generation Z communities all over the country through social media in recent times. Even though many religious families do not celebrate it, it is more widespread than ever. There is a popular phrase used by many parents: "Every day is father’s/mother's day, so you shall love your parents everyday." Most people just wish their father a happy father’s day, but many people from big cities go to a restaurant to celebrate, and many even have cake. Many others cut cake at home or order food online. Some children may give small gifts to their father.


title: Father's Day

text: In the People's Republic of China, there is no official Father's Day. Some people celebrate on the third Sunday of June, according to the tradition of the United States. Father's Day is also celebrated in the special administrative regions. In Hong Kong, it is celebrated on the third Sunday of June and is not a public holiday. In Macau, Father's Day ("Dia do Pai") is celebrated on the third Sunday of June and is not a public holiday.


title: Father's Day

text: Father's Day is not an original custom of India but is rather followed by the influence of the western world. It is observed on the third Sunday of June. This event is not a public holiday. The day is usually celebrated only in larger cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Pune and others. It is a huge holiday in the North Eastern state of Nagaland and Kerala where prayers are held in church on Sunday Services. After this day was first observed in the United States in 1908 and gradually gained popularity, Indian metropolitan cities, much later, followed suit by recognising this event. In India, the day is usually celebrated with children giving gifts such as greeting cards, electronic gadgets, shirts, gold necklaces, coffee mugs or books to their fathers.


title: Father's Day

text: In Indonesia, Father's Day is celebrated on 12 November and is not a public holiday. Father's Day in Indonesia was first declared in 2006 in Surakarta City Hall attended by hundreds of people from various community groups, including people from community of inter-religion communication. Because of its recent declaration, there is not much hype about the celebration, compared to the celebration of Mother's Day on 22 December. Google also created its doodle for Indonesia in 2019 and 2020.


title: Father's Day

text: In Israel, Father's Day is usually celebrated as part of Family Day on 30 Shevat, though some celebrate on 1 May together with Workers' Day or Labor Day.


title: Father's Day

text: In Japan, Father's Day () is celebrated on the third Sunday of June and is not a public holiday. Common presents are sake, shochu, fashion items, some kinds of gourmet food, sports equipment and various sweets.


title: Father's Day

text: Since 2012, Kazakhstan celebrates Defender of the Fatherland Day () to commemorate the foundation of the armed forces. It is also called Army Day and it is celebrated on 7 May. Kazakh society perceives it as ‘a men’s day’ and honoring men so it is vaguely a celebration of fathers.


title: Father's Day

text: The Nepalese Hindus as well as the Newars in Nepal honors fathers on the day of "Kushe aunsi" (), which occurs in late August or early September, depending on the year, since it depends on the lunar calendar. According to Hindu calendar, the festival falls on the new moon day of Bhadra month. It is also known as "Gokarna Aunsi" or "Pitri Tirpani Aunsi".


title: Father's Day

text: In recent years, Nepalese non–Hindus have also adopted the "Kushe Aunsi" day. It is commonly known as () or "Abu ya Khwa Swoyegu" in Nepal Bhasa. The celebration of the festival has been modernized in some ways in recent years. Children worship their father on this day, put tika on his forehead and give him sweets, delicacies and gifts as a part of celebration. In return, the father bless good fortune to his children.


title: Father's Day

text: On the new moon day ("Amavasya"), it is traditional to pay respect to one's deceased father; Hindus go to the Shiva temple of Gokarneswor Mahadev, in Gokarna, a suburb of Kathmandu while Buddhists go to Jana Bahal (Seto Machhendranath or white Tara) temple in Kathmandu.


title: Father's Day

text: Traditionally, in the Kathmandu Valley, the south-western corner is reserved for women and women-related rituals, and the north-eastern is for men and men-related rituals. The worship place for "Mata Tirtha Aunsi" ('Mother Pilgrimage New Moon') is located in Mata Tirtha in the south-western half of the valley, while the worship place for "Gokarna Aunsi" is located in the north-eastern half. This division is reflected in many aspects of the life in the Kathmandu Valley.


title: Father's Day

text: Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June. The Rutgers WPF launched a campaign titled 'Greening PakistanPromoting Responsible Fatherhood' on Father's Day (Sunday, 18 June 2017) across Pakistan to promote active fatherhood and responsibility for the care and upbringing of children. Father's Day is not a public holiday in Pakistan.


title: Father's Day

text: In the Philippines, Father's Day is officially celebrated every third Sunday of June according to a recent presidential proclamation, but it is not a public holiday. It is more widely observed by the public on the third Sunday of June perhaps due to American influence and as proclaimed in 1988 by Philippine President Corazon Aquino.


title: Father's Day

text: Under Proclamation No. 58, series of 1998, issued by then Philippine President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, the first Monday of December of every year was designated as Mother's Day and Father's Day, expressly repealing the third Sunday of June observance.


title: Father's Day

text: In South Korea, Parents' Day () is celebrated on 8 May and is not a public holiday. Setting Parents' Day as a national holiday and holding a pan-national event is intended to inherit and develop traditional ethical standards such as filial piety and senior citizens' ideology. Regardless of age or gender, this day is also an opportunity to reaffirm that traditional filial piety is a crucial norm and cultural value in modern society. The ceremony to mark Parents' Day as an anniversary and put on carnations stems from a Christian culture. As Western religions and cultures entered, this holiday, which was introduced together, became the most traditional holiday combined with Confucian filial piety in the process of establishing itself.


title: Father's Day

text: Father's Day (Sinhala: ; Tamil: ) is observed on the third Sunday of June. It is not a public holiday. Many schools hold special events to honor fathers.


title: Father's Day

text: In Taiwan, Father's Day is not an official holiday, but is widely observed on 8 August, the eighth day of the eighth month of the year. In Mandarin Chinese, the pronunciation of the number eight is "bā", and the pronunciation is very similar to the character ("bà"), which means "pa" or "dad". The eighth day of the eighth month () is a pun for dad (). Taiwan, therefore, sometimes refer to 8 August as "Bābā Holiday" as a pun for "Dad's Holiday" () or the more formal "Father's Day" ().


title: Father's Day

text: In Thailand, Father's Day is observed on 5 December, the birthday of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX). In Thailand, Father's Day, as well as Mother's Day, are national public holidays. Traditionally, Thais celebrate by giving their father or grandfather a canna flower (), which is considered a masculine flower; however, this is not as commonly practiced today. Thai people will wear yellow on this day to show respect for the late king, because yellow is the color of the day for Monday, the day King Bhumibol Adulyadej was born. Thais flood the Sanam Luang, a massive park in front of the palace, to watch the king give his annual speech, and often stay until the evening when there is a national ceremony. Thais will light candles and show respect to the king by declaring their faith. This ceremony happens in almost every village in Thailand, and even overseas at Thai organizations.


title: Father's Day

text: It first gained nationwide popularity in the 1980s as part of a campaign by Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda to promote Thailand's royal family. Mother's Day is celebrated on the birthday of Queen Sirikit, 12 August.


title: Father's Day

text: In the United Arab Emirates, Father's Day is celebrated on 21´June, generally coinciding with midsummer's day.


title: Father's Day

text: In the Roman Catholic tradition, fathers are celebrated on Saint Joseph's Day (commonly called the Feast of Saint Joseph), 19 March, though in certain countries Father's Day has become a secular celebration. It is also common for Catholics to honor their "spiritual father", their parish priest, on Father's Day.


title: Father's Day

text: In Austria, Father's Day ("Vatertag") is celebrated on the second Sunday of June and it is not a public holiday.


title: Father's Day

text: In Belgium, Father's Day ("Vaderdag"/"Fête des Pères") is celebrated on the second Sunday of June or 14 June, and it is not a public holiday, except for Antwerp where it's celebrated on 19 March.


title: Father's Day

text: In Bulgaria, Father's Day is celebrated on 26 December and it is not a public holiday. According to the Eastern Orthodox tradition, fathers are celebrated on Saint Joseph's Day - one day after Christmas.


title: Father's Day

text: In Croatia, according to the Roman Catholic tradition, fathers are celebrated on Saint Joseph's Day ("Dan svetog Josipa"), 19 March. It is not a public holiday.


title: Father's Day

text: In Estonia, Father's Day ("Isadepäev") is celebrated on the second Sunday of November. It is an established flag flying day and a national holiday.


title: Father's Day

text: In Finland, Father's Day (; ) is celebrated on the second Sunday of November. It is an established flag flying day.


title: Father's Day

text: In France lighter manufacturer Flaminaire introduced the idea of Father's Day first in 1949 for commercial reasons. Director Marcel Quercia wanted to sell their lighter in France. In 1950, they introduced "la Fête des Pères", which would take place every third Sunday of June (following the American example). Their slogan ""Nos papas nous l'ont dit, pour la fête des pères, ils désirent tous un Flaminaire"" (Our daddies told us, for Father's Day, they all want a Flaminaire). In 1952, the holiday was officially decreed. A national Father's Day committee was set up to give a prize for fathers who deserved it most (originally, candidates were nominated by the social services of each town hall's/mayor's office); This complements "la Fête des Mères" (Mother's Day) which was made official in France in 1928 and added to the calendar in Vichy in 1941.


title: Father's Day

text: In Germany, Father's Day ("Vatertag") is celebrated differently from other parts of the world. It is always celebrated on Ascension Day (the Thursday forty days after Easter), which is a federal holiday. Regionally, it is also called gentlemen's day, "Herrentag". It is a tradition for groups of males (young and old but usually excluding pre-teenage boys) to do a hiking tour with one or more smaller wagons, "", pulled by manpower. In the wagons are wine or beer bottles (according to the region) and traditional regional food, "". Many men use this holiday as an opportunity to get drunk. According to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, alcohol-related traffic accidents treble on this day. The tradition of Father's Day is especially prevalent in Eastern Germany.


title: Father's Day

text: These traditions are probably rooted in Christian Ascension Day's processions to the farmlands, which has been celebrated since the 18th century. Men would be seated in a wooden cart and carried to the village's plaza, and the mayor would award a prize to the father who had the most children, usually with a big piece of ham. In the late 19th century the religious component was progressively lost, especially in urban areas such as Berlin, and groups of men organized walking excursions with beer and ham. By the 20th century, alcohol consumption had become a major part of the tradition. Many people will take the following Friday off work, and some schools are closed on that Friday as well; many people then use the resulting four-day-long weekend for a short vacation.


title: Father's Day

text: In Greece, Father's Day () is officially celebrated on the third Sunday of June. The SYGAPA association, which supports the needs of divorced fathers, raises awareness and advocates for the father's role in society, also organizes various events on the day across the country.


title: Father's Day

text: In Italy, according to the Roman Catholic tradition, Father's Day is celebrated on Saint Joseph's Day, commonly called the Feast of Saint Joseph ("Festa di San Giuseppe"), 19 March. It was a public holiday until 1977.


title: Father's Day

text: In Latvia, Father's Day ("Tēvu diena") is celebrated on the second Sunday of September and is not a public holiday. In Latvia people did not always celebrate this day because of the USSR's influence with its own holidays. This day in Latvia was officially born in 2008 when it was celebrated and marked in the calendar for the first time on 14 September (second Sunday of September) to promote the idea that man as the father must be satisfied and proud of his family and children, also, the father is important to gratitude and loving words from his family for devoted to continuous altruistic concerns. Because this day is new to the country it does not have established unique traditions, but people borrow ideas from other countries' Father's Day traditions to congratulate fathers in Latvia.


title: Father's Day

text: In Lithuania, Father's Day ("Tėvo diena") is celebrated on the first Sunday of June and is a public holiday.


title: Father's Day

text: Malta has followed the international trend and celebrates Father's Day on the third Sunday in June. As in the case of Mother's Day, the introduction of Father's Day celebrations in Malta was encouraged by Frans H Said (Uncle Frans of the children's radio programs). The first mention of Father's Day was in June 1977, and the day is now part of the local events calendar.


title: Father's Day

text: In the Netherlands (including its constituent countries in the Caribbean), Father's Day ("Vaderdag") is celebrated on the third Sunday of June and is not a public holiday. Traditionally, as on Mother's Day, fathers get breakfast in bed made by their children and families gather together and have dinner, usually at the grandparents' house. In recent years, families also started having dinner out, and as on Mother's Day, it is one of the busiest days for restaurants. At school, children handcraft presents for their fathers. Consumer goods companies have all sorts of special offers for fathers: socks, ties, electronics, suits, and men's healthcare products.


title: Father's Day

text: In Norway, Father's Day ("Farsdag"), is celebrated on the second Sunday of November. It is not a public holiday.


title: Father's Day

text: In Poland, Father's Day () is celebrated on 23 June and is not a public holiday. Google recognized Poland in its Father's Day 2019 Doodle.


title: Father's Day

text: Father's Day ("Dia do Pai") is celebrated on 19 March (see Roman Catholic tradition below) in Portugal. It is not a bank and public holiday.


title: Father's Day

text: The law instituting the celebration of Father's Day in Romania passed on 29 September 2009, and stated that Father's Day will be celebrated annually on the second Sunday of May. The first time it was celebrated was on 9 May 2010. This year it will be celebrated on 8 May 2022.


title: Father's Day

text: Russia continues the Soviet Union's tradition of celebrating Defender of the Fatherland Day on 23 February. It is usually called "Man's Day" and it is considered the Russian equivalent of Father's Day. In 2021, the President of Russia established the Father's Day as falling on the third Sunday of October.


title: Father's Day

text: Father's Day ("El Día del Padre") is observed on the feast day of Saint Joseph, which is 19 March. It is celebrated as a public holiday in some regions of Spain.


title: Father's Day

text: In Sweden, Father's Day ("Fars dag"), is celebrated on the second Sunday of November but is not a public holiday.


title: Father's Day

text: In the United Kingdom, Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June. The day does not have a long tradition; Steve Roud, in "The English Year" (2006), states that it entered British popular culture "sometime after the Second World War, not without opposition".


title: Father's Day

text: In Canada, Father's Day () is celebrated on the third Sunday of June and is not a public holiday. Father's Day typically involves spending time with one's father or the father figures in one's life. Small family gatherings and the giving of gifts may be part of the festivities organized for Father's Day.


title: Father's Day

text: In Costa Rica, the Social Christian Unity Party presented a bill to change the celebration of Father's Day from the third Sunday of June to 19 March, the day of Saint Joseph. That was to give tribute to this saint, who gave his name to the capital of the country San José, Costa Rica, so family heads will be able to celebrate Father's Day at the same time as the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. The official date is still the third Sunday of June.


title: Father's Day

text: In Haiti, Father's Day ("Fête des pères") is celebrated on the last Sunday of June and is not a public holiday. Fathers are recognized and celebrated on this day with cards, gifts, breakfast, lunch, brunch or early Sunday dinner; whether enjoying the day at the beach or mountains, spending family time or doing favorite activities.


title: Father's Day

text: Children exclaim ""bonne fête papa"", while everyone wishes all fathers ""bonne Fête des Pères"" (Happy Father's Day).


title: Father's Day

text: In Mexico, Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June and is not a public holiday. Father's Day typically involves spending time with one's father or the father figures in one's life. Small family gatherings and the giving of gifts may be part of the festivities organized for Father's Day.


title: Father's Day

text: In Trinidad and Tobago, Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June and is not a public holiday.


title: Father's Day

text: In the US, Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June. Typically, families gather to celebrate the father figures in their lives. Schools (if in session) and other children's programs commonly have activities to make Father's Day gifts.


title: Father's Day

text: In Australia, Father's Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of September, which is the first Sunday of spring in Australia. Most families present fathers with gifts and cards, and share a meal. It is not a public holiday.


title: Father's Day

text: The idea of Father's Day wasn't initially well received in Australia in the 1910s and 1920s. Many thought it was either unnecessary or undermined a father's assumed “supremacy” as head of the household. Newspapers at the time printed satirical poems and critical editorials of the new American tradition. Father's Day was originally observed in June, matching the USA date, with church services and the wearing of a red flower. In June 1925, Janet Heyden of Sydney (who also advocated for Mother's Day celebrations in Australia) began collecting donations to bring cheer to elderly men in nursing homes. While Mother's Day became instantly popular, it wasn't until the 1930s that Father's Day came to be popularly celebrated in Australia on the first Sunday in September. The Father's Day Council of Australia was established in 1957 and continues to honor distinguished fathers with an annual Australian Father of the Year award. Father's Day traditions in Australia include school crafts with handmade gifts and cards from younger children, taking dad out for lunch, BBQs, and outdoor family activities. Public schools often hold a Father's Day gift stall with inexpensive presents for fathers, grandfathers, carers, or other role-models.


title: Father's Day

text: YMCA Victoria continues the tradition of honoring the role fathers and father figures play in parenting through the annual awarding of Local Community Father of the Year in 32 municipalities in Victoria. The Father's Day Council of Victoria also annually recognizes fathers in the Victorian Father of the Year Award.


title: Father's Day

text: In New Zealand, Father's Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of September and it is not a public holiday. Father's Day was first observed at St Matthew's Church, Auckland on 14 July 1929 and first appeared in commercial advertising the following year. By 1931 other churches had adopted the day and in 1935 much of Australia moved to mark the day at the beginning of September. New Zealand followed this, with a Wellington advert in 1937 and a Christchurch Salvation Army service in 1938.


title: Father's Day

text: In Samoa, Father's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in August, and is a recognized national holiday on the Monday following.


title: Father's Day

text: In Fiji, Father's Day is celebrated in September. Commercial fathers Sunday is usually on the first Sunday and then the Methodist Father's Day is usually celebrated on the second Sunday.


title: Father's Day

text: Attempts have been made to change the date to 24 August, to commemorate the day on which the "Father of the Nation", José de San Martín, became a father. In 1953, the proposal to celebrate Father's Day in all educational establishments on 24 August, in honor of José de San Martín, was raised to the General Direction of Schools of Mendoza Province. The day was celebrated for the first time in 1958, on the third Sunday of June, but it was not included in the school calendars due to pressure from several groups.


title: Father's Day

text: Schools in the Mendoza Province continued to celebrate Father's Day on 24 August, and in 1982 the provincial governor passed a law declaring Father's Day in the province to be celebrated on that day.


title: Father's Day

text: In 2004, a proposal to change the date to 24 August was presented to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies as a single, unified project.


title: Father's Day

text: In Bolivia Father's Day ("Día del padre", in Spanish) is celebrated on 19 March (Saint Joseph Day). People usually give a present to their fathers and spend time with them.


title: Father's Day

text: In Brazil Father's Day ("Dia dos Pais", in Portuguese) is celebrated three months after Mother's Day, on the second Sunday of August. Publicist Sylvio Bhering picked the day in honor of Saint Joachim, patron of fathers. While it is not an official holiday (see Public holidays in Brazil), it is widely observed and typically involves spending time with and giving gifts to one's father or father figure.


title: Father's Day

text: In Colombia, Father's Day ("Día del padre", in Spanish) is celebrated on the third Sunday of June. In 2022, it was officially celebrated on 26 June to avoid coinciding with the second round of the presidential elections.


title: Father's Day

text: In Paraguay, Father's Day is typically celebrated with a traditional banquet of Paraguayan food like chipa, mbeju, bori, soyo and sopa paraguaya. In Paraguay Father's Day is a very important day, and is celebrated with much fervor.


title: Father's Day

text: In Peru, Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June and is not a public holiday. People usually give a present to their fathers and spend time with them mostly during a family meal.


title: Führerbunker

text: The Führerbunker () was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters ("Führerhauptquartiere") used by Adolf Hitler during World War II.


title: Führerbunker

text: Hitler took up residence in the "Führerbunker" on 16 January 1945, and it became the centre of the Nazi regime until the last week of World War II in Europe. Hitler married Eva Braun there on 29 April 1945, less than 40 hours before they committed suicide.


title: Führerbunker

text: After the war, both the old and new Chancellery buildings were levelled by the Soviets. The underground complex remained largely undisturbed until 1988–89, despite some attempts at demolition. The excavated sections of the old bunker complex were mostly destroyed during reconstruction of that area of Berlin. The site remained unmarked until 2006, when a small plaque was installed with a schematic diagram. Some corridors of the bunker still exist but are sealed off from the public.


title: Führerbunker

text: The Reich Chancellery bunker was initially constructed as a temporary air-raid shelter for Hitler, who actually spent very little time in the capital during most of the war. Increased bombing of Berlin led to expansion of the complex as an improvised permanent shelter. The elaborate complex consisted of two separate shelters, the "Vorbunker" ("forward bunker"; the upper bunker), completed in 1936, and the "Führerbunker", located lower than the "Vorbunker" and to the west-southwest, completed in 1944. They were connected by a stairway set at right angles and could be closed off from each other by a bulkhead and steel door. The "Vorbunker" was located beneath the cellar of a large reception hall behind the old Reich Chancellery at Wilhelmstrasse 77. The "Führerbunker" was located about beneath the garden of the old Reich Chancellery, north of the new Reich Chancellery building at Voßstraße 6. Besides being deeper under ground, the "Führerbunker" had significantly more reinforcement. Its roof was made of concrete almost thick. About 30 small rooms were protected by approximately of concrete; exits led into the main buildings, as well as an emergency exit up to the garden. The "Führerbunker" development was built by the Hochtief company as part of an extensive programme of subterranean construction in Berlin begun in 1940.


title: Führerbunker

text: Hitler's accommodations were in this newer, lower section, and by February 1945 it had been decorated with high-quality furniture taken from the Chancellery, along with several framed oil paintings. After descending the stairs into the lower section and passing through the steel door, there was a long corridor with a series of rooms on each side. On the right side were a series of rooms which included generator/ventilation rooms and the telephone switchboard. On the left side was Eva Braun's bedroom/sitting room (also known as Hitler's private guest room), an ante-chamber (also known as Hitler's sitting room), which led into Hitler's study/office. On the wall hung a large portrait of Frederick the Great, one of Hitler's heroes. A door led into Hitler's modestly furnished bedroom. Next to it was the conference/map room (also known as the briefing/situation room) which had a door that led out into the waiting room/ante-room.


title: Führerbunker

text: The bunker complex was self-contained. However, as the "Führerbunker" was below the water table, conditions were unpleasantly damp, with pumps running continuously to remove groundwater. A diesel generator provided electricity, and well water was pumped in as the water supply. Communications systems included a telex, a telephone switchboard, and an army radio set with an outdoor antenna. As conditions deteriorated at the end of the war, Hitler received much of his war news from BBC radio broadcasts and via courier.


title: Führerbunker

text: Hitler moved into the "Führerbunker" on 16 January 1945, joined by his senior staff, including Martin Bormann. Eva Braun and Joseph Goebbels joined them in April, while Magda Goebbels and their six children took residence in the upper "Vorbunker". Two or three dozen support, medical, and administrative staff were also sheltered there. These included Hitler's secretaries (including Traudl Junge), a nurse named Erna Flegel, and Sergeant Rochus Misch, who was both bodyguard and telephone switchboard operator. Initially, Hitler continued to use the undamaged wing of the Reich Chancellery, where he held afternoon military conferences in his large study. Afterwards, he would have tea with his secretaries before returning to the bunker complex for the night. After several weeks of this routine, Hitler seldom left the bunker except for short strolls in the chancellery garden with his dog Blondi. The bunker was crowded, the atmosphere was oppressive, and air raids occurred daily. Hitler mostly stayed on the lower level, where it was quieter and he could sleep. Conferences took place for much of the night, often until 05:00.


title: Führerbunker

text: On 16 April, the Red Army started the Battle of Berlin, and they started to encircle the city by 19 April. Hitler made his last trip to the surface on 20 April, his 56th birthday, going to the ruined garden of the Reich Chancellery where he awarded the Iron Cross to boy soldiers of the Hitler Youth. That afternoon, Berlin was bombarded by Soviet artillery for the first time.


title: Führerbunker

text: Hitler was in denial about the dire situation and placed his hopes on the units commanded by Waffen-SS General Felix Steiner, the "Armeeabteilung Steiner" ("Army Detachment Steiner"). On 21 April, Hitler ordered Steiner to attack the northern flank of the encircling Soviet salient and ordered the German Ninth Army, south-east of Berlin, to attack northward in a pincer attack. That evening, Red Army tanks reached the outskirts of Berlin. Hitler was told at his afternoon situation conference on 22 April that Steiner's forces had not moved, and he fell into a tearful rage when he realised that the attack was not going to be carried out. He openly declared for the first time the war was lost—and he blamed his generals. Hitler announced that he would stay in Berlin until the end and then shoot himself.


title: Führerbunker

text: On 23 April, Hitler appointed General of the Artillery Helmuth Weidling, commander of the LVI Panzer Corps, as the commander of the Berlin Defense Area, replacing Lieutenant-Colonel ("Oberstleutnant") Ernst Kaether. The Red Army had consolidated their investment of Berlin by 25 April, despite the commands being issued from the "Führerbunker". There was no prospect that the German defence could do anything but delay the city's capture. Hitler summoned Field Marshal Robert Ritter von Greim from Munich to Berlin to take over command of the Luftwaffe from Hermann Göring, and he arrived on 26 April along with his mistress, the test pilot Hanna Reitsch.


title: Führerbunker

text: On 28 April, Hitler learned that "Reichsführer-SS" Heinrich Himmler was trying to discuss surrender terms with the Western Allies through Count Folke Bernadotte, and Hitler considered this treason. Himmler's SS representative in Berlin Hermann Fegelein was shot after being court-martialed for desertion, and Hitler ordered Himmler's arrest. On the same day, General Hans Krebs made his last telephone call from the "Führerbunker" to Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of German Armed Forces High Command (OKW) in Fürstenberg. Krebs told him that all would be lost if relief did not arrive within 48 hours. Keitel promised to exert the utmost pressure on Generals Walther Wenck, commander of the Twelfth Army, and Theodor Busse, commander of the Ninth Army. Meanwhile, Bormann wired to German Admiral Karl Dönitz: "Reich Chancellery a heap of rubble." He said that the foreign press was reporting fresh acts of treason and "that without exception Schörner, Wenck and the others must give evidence of their loyalty by the quickest relief of the Führer".


title: Führerbunker

text: That evening, von Greim and Reitsch flew out from Berlin in an Arado Ar 96 trainer. Field Marshal von Greim was ordered to get the Luftwaffe to attack the Soviet forces that had just reached Potsdamer Platz, only a city block from the "Führerbunker". During the night of 28 April, General Wenck reported to Keitel that his Twelfth Army had been forced back along the entire front and it was no longer possible for his army to relieve Berlin. Keitel gave Wenck permission to break off the attempt.


title: Führerbunker

text: Hitler married Eva Braun after midnight on 28–29 April in a small civil ceremony within the "Führerbunker". He then took secretary Traudl Junge to another room and dictated his last will and testament. Hans Krebs, Wilhelm Burgdorf, Goebbels, and Bormann witnessed and signed the documents at approximately 04:00. Hitler then retired to bed.


title: Führerbunker

text: Late in the evening of 29 April, Krebs contacted Jodl by radio: "Request immediate report. Firstly of the whereabouts of Wenck's spearheads. Secondly of time intended to attack. Thirdly of the location of the Ninth Army. Fourthly of the precise place in which the Ninth Army will break through. Fifthly of the whereabouts of General Rudolf Holste's spearhead." In the early morning of 30 April, Jodl replied to Krebs: "Firstly, Wenck's spearhead bogged down south of Schwielow Lake. Secondly, Twelfth Army therefore unable to continue attack on Berlin. Thirdly, bulk of Ninth Army surrounded. Fourthly, Holste's Corps on the defensive."


title: Führerbunker

text: SS-"Brigadeführer" Wilhelm Mohnke, commander of the centre government district of Berlin, informed Hitler during the morning of 30 April that he would be able to hold for less than two days. Later that morning, Weidling informed Hitler that the defenders would probably exhaust their ammunition that night and again asked him for permission to break out. Weidling finally received permission at about 13:00. Hitler shot himself later that afternoon, at around 15:30, while Eva took cyanide. In accordance with Hitler's instructions, his and Eva's bodies were burned in the garden behind the Reich Chancellery. Goebbels became the new Head of Government and Chancellor of Germany ("Reichskanzler") in accordance with Hitler's last will and testament. "Reichskanzler" Goebbels and Bormann sent a radio message to Dönitz at 03:15, informing him of Hitler's death, and that he was the new Head of State and President of Germany ("Reichspräsident"), in accordance with Hitler's last will and testament.


title: Führerbunker

text: Krebs talked to General Vasily Chuikov, commander of the Soviet 8th Guards Army, at about 04:00 on 1 May, and Chuikov demanded unconditional surrender of the remaining German forces. Krebs did not have the authority to surrender, so he returned to the bunker. In the late afternoon, Goebbels had his children poisoned, and he and his wife left the bunker at around 20:30. There are several different accounts on what followed. According to one account, Goebbels shot his wife and then himself. Another account was that they each bit on a cyanide ampule and were given a "coup de grâce" immediately afterwards. Goebbels' SS adjutant Günther Schwägermann testified in 1948 that the couple walked ahead of him up the stairs and out to the Chancellery garden. He waited in the stairwell and heard the shots, then walked up the remaining stairs and saw the lifeless bodies of the couple outside. He then followed Joseph Goebbels' order and had an SS soldier fire several shots into Goebbels' body, which did not move. The bodies were then doused with petrol and set alight, but the remains were only partially burned and not buried.


title: Führerbunker

text: Weidling had given the order for the survivors to break out to the northwest, and the plan got underway at around 23:00. The first group from the Reich Chancellery was led by Mohnke; they tried unsuccessfully to break through the Soviet rings and were captured the next day. Mohnke was interrogated by SMERSH, like others who were captured from the "Führerbunker". The third breakout attempt from the Reich Chancellery was made around 01:00 on 2 May, and Bormann managed to cross the Spree. Artur Axmann followed the same route and reported seeing Bormann's body a short distance from the Weidendammer bridge.


title: Führerbunker

text: At 01:00, the Soviet forces picked up a radio message from the LVI Panzer Corps requesting a cease-fire. Down in the "Führerbunker", General Krebs and General Burgdorf committed suicide by gunshot to the head. The last defenders in the area of the bunker complex were mainly made up of Frenchmen of the 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne, others being Waffen-SS from the remnants of the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, Latvian SS and Spanish SS units. A group of French SS remained in the area of the bunker until the early morning of 2 May. The Soviet forces then captured the Reich Chancellery. General Weidling surrendered with his staff at 6:00, and his meeting with Chuikov ended at 8:23. Johannes Hentschel, the master electro-mechanic for the bunker complex, stayed after everyone else had either left or committed suicide, as the field hospital in the Reich Chancellery above needed power and water. He surrendered to the Red Army as they entered the bunker complex at 09:00 on 2 May. The bodies of Goebbels' six children were discovered on 3 May. They were found in their beds in the "Vorbunker" with the clear mark of cyanide shown on their faces.


title: Führerbunker

text: The first post-war photos of the interior of the "Führerbunker" were taken in July 1945. On 4 July, American writer James P. O'Donnell toured the bunker after giving the Soviet guard a pack of cigarettes. Many soldiers, politicians, and diplomats visited the bunker complex in the following days and months. Winston Churchill visited the Reich Chancellery and bunker on 14 July 1945. On 11 December 1945, the Soviets allowed a limited investigation of the bunker grounds by the other Allied powers. Two representatives from each nation watched several Germans dig up soil; this included the site where Hitler's remains had been exhumed that May. Found during the dig were two hats identified as Hitler's, an undergarment with Braun's initials, and some reports to Hitler from Goebbels. The representatives planned to continue the work, but when they arrived the next morning, an NKVD armed guard met them and accused them of removing documents from the Chancellery. This was denied, but no further outside investigation was allowed until years later.


title: Führerbunker

text: The outer ruins of both Chancellery buildings were levelled by the Soviets between 1945 and 1949 as part of an effort to destroy the landmarks of Nazi Germany. A detailed interior site investigation by the Soviets, including measurements, took place on 16 May 1946. Thereafter, the bunker largely survived, although some areas were partially flooded. In December 1947, the Soviets tried to blow up the bunker, but only the separation walls were damaged. In 1959, the East German government began a series of demolitions of the Chancellery, including the bunker. Because it was near the Berlin Wall, the site was undeveloped and neglected until 1988–89. During extensive construction of residential housing and other buildings on the site, work crews uncovered several underground sections of the old bunker complex; for the most part these were destroyed. Other parts of the Chancellery underground complex were uncovered, but these were ignored, filled in, or resealed.


title: Führerbunker

text: Government authorities wanted to destroy the last vestiges of these Nazi landmarks. The construction of the buildings in the area around the "Führerbunker" was a strategy for ensuring the surroundings remained anonymous and unremarkable. The emergency exit point for the "Führerbunker" (which had been in the Chancellery gardens) was occupied by a car park.


title: Führerbunker

text: On 8 June 2006, during the lead-up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, an information board was installed to mark the location of the "Führerbunker". The board, including a schematic diagram of the bunker, can be found at the corner of In den Ministergärten and Gertrud-Kolmar-Straße, two small streets about three minutes' walk from Potsdamer Platz. Rochus Misch, one of the last people living who was in the bunker at the time of Hitler's suicide, was on hand for the ceremony.