title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: In January 1932 the Postmaster General approved the designation of some predominantly urban areas into numbered districts. In November 1934 the Post Office announced the introduction of numbered districts (short postal codes) in "every provincial town in the United Kingdom large enough to justify it". Pamphlets were issued to each householder and business in ten areas notifying them of the number of the district in which their premises lay. The pamphlets included a map of the districts, and copies were made available at local head post offices. The public were "particularly invited" to include the district number in the address at the head of letters.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: A publicity campaign in the following year encouraged the use of the district numbers. The slogan for the campaign was "For speed and certainty always use a postal district number on your letters and notepaper". A poster was fixed to every pillar box in the affected areas bearing the number of the district and appealing for the public's co-operation. Every post office in the numbered district was also to display this information. Printers of Christmas cards and stationery were requested to always include district numbers in addresses, and election agents for candidates in the upcoming general election were asked to ensure they correctly addressed the 100 million items of mail they were expected to post. Businesses were issued with a free booklet containing maps and listings of the correct district number for every street in the ten areas.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: For example, Toxteth was "Liverpool 8". A single numbering sequence was shared by Manchester and Salford: letters would be addressed to Manchester 1 or Salford 7 (lowest digits, respectively). Some Birmingham codes were sub-divided with a letter, such as "Great Barr, Birmingham 22" or "Birmingham 22a", as can still be seen on many older street-name signs.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The Post Office experimented with electromechanical sorting machines in the late 1950s. These devices presented an envelope to an operator, who would press a button indicating which bin to sort the letter into. Postcodes were suggested to increase the efficiency of this process by removing the need for the sorter to remember the correct sorting for as many places. In January 1959 the Post Office analysed the results of a survey on public attitudes towards the use of postal codes, choosing a town in which to experiment with codes. The envisaged format was a six-character alphanumeric code with three letters designating the geographical area and three numbers to identify the individual address. On 28 July Ernest Marples, the Postmaster General, announced that Norwich had been selected, and that each of the 150,000 private and business addresses would receive a code by October. Norwich had been selected as it already had eight automatic mail sorting machines in use. The original Norwich format consisted of "NOR," followed by a space, then a two-digit number (which, unlike the current format, could include a leading zero), and finally a single letter (instead of the two final letters in the current format).


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: In October 1965, Tony Benn as Postmaster General announced that postal coding was to be extended to the rest of the country in the next few years.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: On 1 May 1967 postcodes were introduced in Croydon. The many postcodes for central Croydon began with "CRO", while those of the surrounding post towns with CR2, CR3 and CR4. The uniform system of a set of three final characters after the space (such as 0AA, known as the inward code) was adopted. This was to be the beginning of a ten-year plan, costing an estimated £24 million. Within two years it was expected that full coding would be used in Aberdeen, Belfast, Brighton, Bristol, Bromley, Cardiff, Coventry, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newport, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton and the Western district of London. By 1967, codes had been introduced to Aberdeen, Southampton, Brighton and Derby. In 1970, codes were introduced to the London Western and North Western postal districts. In December 1970, much Christmas mail was postmarked with the message "Remember to use the Postal Code" although codes were used to sort mail in only a handful of sorting offices.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: During 1971, occupants of addresses began to receive notification of their postcode. Asked in the House of Commons about the completion of the coding exercise, the Minister of State for Posts and Telecommunications (whose role superseded that of Postmaster General in 1969), Sir John Eden, stated that it was expected to be completed during 1972. The scheme was finalised in 1974 when Norwich was completely re-coded but the scheme tested in Croydon was sufficiently close to the final design for it to be retained, with CRO standardised as CR0 (district zero) thus removing the need to create a CR1 district.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: A quirk remained: the central Newport (Gwent) area was allocated NPT at a similar time to Croydon becoming CRO, and surrounding areas were (as today) allocated NP1–NP8. NPT lasted until the end of 1984 when it was recoded NP9.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: Girobank's GIR 0AA was the last domestic postcode with a fully alphabetical outward code. That code no longer exists in the Royal Mail's PAF system, but was taken over by the bank's current owners, Santander UK.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: When the national postcode system was introduced, many existing postal districts were incorporated into it, so that postcodes in Toxteth (Liverpool 8) start with L8. The districts in both Manchester and Salford gained M postcodes, so Salford 7 became M7 and so on (and similarly in Brighton and Hove, both using the prefix BN). The old coding lives on in a small number of street signs with (for example) "Salford 7" at the bottom. In other cases, the district numbers were replaced with unrelated numbers. In Glasgow many of its G-prefixed numbers are not used as C1 became G1, W1 became G11, N1 became G21, E1 became G31, S1 became G41, SW1 became G51, and so on. In London (as postally defined), 1917-created postal districts are mapped unchanged to those of today but its much enlarged administrative area, Greater London, was created in April 1965. From that month the remaining 60% of Greater London's area has postcodes referring to 13 other post towns. Additionally, there were too few postcodes to adequately cover districts in central London (particularly in the WC and EC areas), so these were subdivided with a letter suffix rather than being split into new numbered districts so as to retain the familiar codes.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: Prior to 1 April 2010, the Royal Mail licensed use of the postcode database for a charge of about £4,000 per year. Following a campaign and a government consultation in 2009, the Ordnance Survey released Code-Point Open, detailing each current postcode in Great Britain together with a geo-code for re-use free of charge under an attribution-only licence (Open Government Licence as part of OS OpenData).


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The Office for National Statistics (ONS Geography) maintains and publishes a series of freely available, downloadable postcode products that link all current and terminated UK postcodes to a range of administrative, health, statistical and other geographies using the Code-Point Open grid reference.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The postcodes are alphanumeric, and are variable in length: ranging from six to eight characters (including a space). Each postcode is divided into two parts separated by a single space: the "outward code" and the "inward code" respectively. The "outward code" includes the "postcode area" and the "postcode district", respectively. The "inward code" includes the "postcode sector" and the "postcode unit" respectively. Examples of postcodes are "SW1W 0NY", "PO16 7GZ", "GU16 7HF", and "L1 8JQ".


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The outward code is the part of the postcode before the single space in the middle. It is between two and four characters long. Examples of outward codes are "L1", "W1A", "RH1", "RH10" or "SE1P". A few outward codes are non-geographic, not divulging where mail is to be sent.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The postcode area is part of the outward code. The postcode area is either one or two characters long and is alphabetical. Examples of postcode areas are "L" for Liverpool, "RH" for Redhill and "EH" for Edinburgh. A postal area may cover a wide area, for example "RH" also covers parts of north Sussex and "BT" (Belfast) covers the whole of Northern Ireland.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The inward code is the part of the postcode after the single space in the middle. It is three characters long. The inward code assists in the delivery of post within a postal district. Examples of inward codes are "0NY", "7GZ", "7HF", or "8JQ".


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The postcode unit is two characters added to the end of the postcode sector. A postcode unit generally represents a street, part of a street, a single address, a group of properties, a single property, a sub-section of the property, an individual organisation or (for instance Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) a subsection of the organisation. The level of discrimination is often based on the amount of mail received by the premises or business.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: A postcode can be validated against a table of all 1.7 million postcodes in Code-Point Open. The full delivery address including postcode can be validated against the Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF), which lists 29 million valid delivery addresses, constituting most (but not all) addresses in the UK.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The following regular expression can be used for the purpose of validation and includes postcode formats from Special Cases:


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: All or part of one or more postcode districts are grouped into post towns. Larger post towns may use more than one postcode district, for example Crawley uses RH10 and RH11. In a minority of cases, a single number can cover two post towns—for example, the WN8 district includes Wigan and Skelmersdale post towns.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man established their own postal administrations separate from the UK in 1969. Despite this, they adopted the UK-format postcodes in 1993–94: Guernsey using GY, the Isle of Man using IM, and Jersey using JE.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The independent jurisdiction of Sark was assigned a unique postcode prefix GY10 in 2011 to differentiate it from Alderney. The CEO of Guernsey Post, Boley Smillie, said "this has been a long time coming" and "... Sark should have had its own identity back then [when postcodes were adopted in 1993]".


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: Some of the British Overseas Territories have postcodes that follow the format of the UK postcode system:


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: These were introduced because mail was often sent to the wrong place, e.g., for St Helena to St Helens, Isle of Wight. and Ascension Island to Asunción, Paraguay, and many online companies would not accept addresses without a postcode. Mail from the UK continues to be treated as international, not inland, and sufficient postage must be used.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: Bermuda, the UK's most populous remaining overseas territory, has developed its own postcode system, with unique postcodes for street and PO Box addresses, as have the Cayman Islands, Montserrat and the British Virgin Islands. Montserrat recently introduced postal codes, and a system has been under consideration in Gibraltar with the code GX11 1AA being introduced as the generic postcode for the territory in the interim.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The British Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus use Cypriot postal codes for civilian use. The British military use BFPO addresses.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The British Forces Post Office (BFPO) provides a postal service to HM Forces separate from that provided by Royal Mail in the United Kingdom, with BFPO addresses used for the delivery of mail in the UK and around the world. BFPO codes such as "BFPO 801" serve the same function as postal codes for civilian addresses, with the last line of the address consisting of "BFPO" followed a space and a number of 1 to 4 digits.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: For consistency with the format of other UK addresses, in 2012 BFPO and Royal Mail jointly introduced an optional alternative postcode format for BFPO addresses, using the new non-geographic postcode area "BF" and the notional post town "BFPO". Each BFPO number is assigned to a postcode in the standard UK format, beginning "BF1". The database was released commercially in March 2012 as part of the Royal Mail Postal Address File (PAF). A postcode is not required if the traditional "BFPO nnnn" format is used.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: Most postcodes apply to a geographic area but some are used only for routing and cannot be used for navigation or estimating distances. They are often used for direct marketing and PO boxes. Non-geographic postcode area BX is used solely for non-geographic addresses, with codes independent of the location of the recipient. Some postcode sectors or districts are set aside solely for non-geographic postcodes, including EC50, BS98, BT58, BX1–BX9, IM99, M60, N1P, NE99, SA99, SW9, WV99, WV98 and JE4. Also the first two numbers can be from the range 91 to 95 for businesses and a range 96 to 99 for Government departments. The letters HQ for the last two letters could also it most likely is a non-graphical postcode of that Royal Mail holds the mail which a redirection, bulk mail delivery or open and scan to email service is available.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: Girobank's headquarters in Bootle used the non-geographic postcode GIR 0AA. There is also a special postcode for letters to Santa/Father Christmas, XM4 5HQ.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: Many non-geographic postcodes do not appear on Royal Mail's own online postcode finder tool or their Click and Drop online postage printing tool, which can add to confusion when responding to organisations that use such addresses. Likewise, delivery services or couriers other than Royal Mail may not be able to deliver to such non-physical addresses.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: Postcodes are allocated by Royal Mail's Address Management Unit and cannot be purchased or specified by the recipient. However, Royal Mail sometimes assigns semi-mnemonic postcodes to high-profile organisations.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The postcode printed on Business Reply envelopes (which do not require a stamp) often ends with the letters BR.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: Postcodes are used to sort letters to their destination either manually, where sorters use labelled frames, or increasingly with letter-coding systems, where machines assist in sorting. A variation of automated sorting uses optical character recognition (OCR) to read printed postcodes, best suited to mail that uses a standard layout and addressing format.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: A long string of "faced" letters (i.e. turned to allow the address to be read) is presented to a keyboard operator at a coding desk, who types the postcodes onto the envelopes in coloured phosphor dots. The associated machine uses the outward codes in these dots to direct bundles of letters into the correct bags for specific delivery offices. With a machine knowledge of the specific addresses handled by each postal walk at each office, the bundles can be further sorted using the dots of the inward sorting code so that each delivery round receives only its own letters. This feature depends upon whether it is cost effective to second-sort outward letters, and tends to be used only at main sorting offices where high volumes are handled.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: When postcodes are incomplete or missing, the operator reads the post town name and inserts a code sufficient for outward sorting to the post town, where others can further direct it. The mail bags of letter bundles are sent by road, air or train, and eventually by road to the delivery office. At the delivery office the mail that is handled manually is inward sorted to the postal walk that will deliver it; it is then "set in", i.e. sorted into the walk order that allows the deliverer the most convenient progress in the round. The latter process is now being automated, as the roll-out of walk sequencing machines continues.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: Integrated Mail Processors (IMPs) read the postcode on the item and translate it into two phosphorus barcodes representing the inward and outward parts of the postcode, which the machines subsequently print and read to sort the mail to the correct outward postcode. Letters may also be sequentially sorted by a Compact Sequence Sorter (CSS) reading the outward postcode in the order that a walking postman/woman will deliver, door to door. On such items the top phosphorous barcode is the inward part of the code, the bottom is the outward.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: A newer system of five-digit codes called Mailsort was designed for users who send "a minimum of 4,000 letter-sized items". It encodes the outward part of the postcode in a way that is useful for mail routing, so that a particular range of Mailsort codes goes on a particular plane or lorry. Mailsort users are supplied with a database to allow them to convert from postcodes to Mailsort codes and receive a discount if they deliver mail to the post office split up by Mailsort code. Users providing outgoing mail sorted by postcode receive no such incentive since postcode areas and districts are assigned using permanent mnemonics and do not therefore assist with grouping items together into operationally significant blocks. Walksort was discontinued in May 2012.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: There are approximately 1.7 million postcodes in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: Each postcode is divided by a space into two parts. As mentioned above, the first part starts with the postcode area and ends with the postcode district. The second part begins with a single digit, which indicates the postcode sector, and ends with the postcode unit.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: Postcode areas are also divided into several post towns, which predate the introduction of postcodes, with the London post town uniquely covering more than one postcode area.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: As of June 2016, there are 124 postcode areas, 2,987 postcode districts, 11,192 postcode sectors, and 1,500 post towns. Addresses receiving large volumes of mail are each assigned separate "large user" postcodes. But most postcodes are shared by several neighbouring properties, typically covering about 15 addresses.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: There are also significant numbers of discontinued (terminated) codes. Each month some 2,750 postcodes are created and 2,500 terminated.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The Address Management Unit of Royal Mail maintains an official database of UK postal addresses and postcodes in its Postcode Address File (PAF), which is made available under licence for a fee regulated by Ofcom. The PAF is commercially licensable and is often incorporated in address management software packages. The capabilities of such packages allow most addresses to be constructed solely from the postcode and house number. By including the map references of postcodes in the address database, the postcode can be used to pinpoint a postcode area on a map. PAF is updated daily.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: On its website, Royal Mail publishes summary information about major changes to postcode sectors and postal localities (including post towns). Individual postcodes or postal addresses can be found using Royal Mail's Postcode and Address Finder website, but this is limited to 50 free searches per user per day.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: A complete list of all current Great Britain postcodes, known as Code-Point Open, has been made available online (since 1 April 2010) by Ordnance Survey. Under the government's OS OpenData initiative, it is available for re-use without charge under an attribution-only licence. The Code-Point Open list includes median coordinates for each postcode but excludes postcodes in Northern Ireland and the Crown dependencies. Unlike the PAF products provided by Royal Mail, the Code-Point Open list does not include postal address text.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The Office for National Statistics also produces postcode directories, under similar licence terms to the OS product. Both the ONSPD and NSPL contain Northern Ireland postcodes, with centroid coordinates in the OSI grid as opposed to the OSGB grid, although Northern Ireland postcodes are subject to a more restrictive licence permitting internal business use only. Postcodes for the Crown Dependences are also included, without co-ordinates. A further difference is that non-current postcodes and dates of introduction and withdrawal of postcodes are included.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: While postcodes were introduced to expedite the delivery of mail, they are useful tools for other purposes, particularly because codes are very fine-grained and identify just a few addresses. Among these uses are:


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: The phrase "postcode lottery" refers to the variation in the availability of services by region, though not always because of postcodes.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: For these and related reasons, postcodes in some areas have become indicators of social status. Some residents have campaigned to change their postcode to associate themselves with a more desirable area, to disassociate with a poorer area, to reduce insurance premiums or to be associated with an area with a lower cost of living. In all these cases Royal Mail has said that there is "virtually no hope" of changing the postcode, referring to their policy of changing postcodes only to match changes in their operations.


title: Postcodes in the United Kingdom

text: Postcode areas rarely align with local government boundaries and a few straddle England's borders with Wales and Scotland. This has led to British Sky Broadcasting subscribers receiving the wrong BBC and ITV regions, and newly licensed radio amateurs being given incorrect call signs.


title: Citrus

text: Citrus is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus "Citrus" is native to South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Melanesia, and Australia. Various citrus species have been used and domesticated by indigenous cultures in these areas since ancient times. From there its cultivation spread into Micronesia and Polynesia by the Austronesian expansion (c. 3000–1500 BCE); and to the Middle East and the Mediterranean (c. 1200 BCE) via the incense trade route, and onwards to Europe and the Americas.


title: Citrus

text: Citrus plants are native to subtropical and tropical regions of Asia, Island Southeast Asia, Near Oceania, and northeastern Australia. Domestication of citrus species involved much hybridization and introgression, leaving much uncertainty about when and where domestication first happened. A genomic, phylogenic, and biogeographical analysis by Wu "et al." (2018) has shown that the center of origin of the genus "Citrus" is likely the southeast foothills of the Himalayas, in a region stretching from eastern Assam, northern Myanmar, to western Yunnan. It diverged from a common ancestor with "Poncirus trifoliata". A change in climate conditions during the Late Miocene (11.63 to 5.33 mya) resulted in a sudden speciation event. The species resulting from this event include the citrons ("Citrus medica") of South Asia; the pomelos ("C. maxima") of Mainland Southeast Asia; the mandarins ("C. reticulata"), kumquats ("C. japonica"), mangshanyegan ("C. mangshanensis"), and ichang papedas ("C. cavaleriei") of southeastern China; the kaffir limes ("C. hystrix") of Island Southeast Asia; and the biasong and samuyao ("C. micrantha") of the Philippines.


title: Citrus

text: This was later followed by the spread of citrus species into Taiwan and Japan in the Early Pliocene (5.33 to 3.6 mya), resulting in the tachibana orange ("C. tachibana"); and beyond the Wallace Line into Papua New Guinea and Australia during the Early Pleistocene (2.5 million to 800,000 years ago), where further speciation events occurred resulting in the Australian limes.


title: Citrus

text: The earliest introductions of citrus species by human migrations was during the Austronesian expansion (c. 3000–1500 BCE), where "Citrus hystrix", "Citrus macroptera", and "Citrus maxima" were among the canoe plants carried by Austronesian voyagers eastwards into Micronesia and Polynesia.


title: Citrus

text: The citron ("Citrus medica") was also introduced early into the Mediterranean basin from India and Southeast Asia. It was introduced via two ancient trade routes: an overland route through Persia, the Levant and the Mediterranean islands; and a maritime route through the Arabian Peninsula and Ptolemaic Egypt into North Africa. Although the exact date of the original introduction is unknown due to the sparseness of archaeobotanical remains, the earliest evidence are seeds recovered from the Hala Sultan Tekke site of Cyprus, dated to around 1200 BCE. Other archaeobotanical evidence include pollen from Carthage dating back to the 4th century BCE; and carbonized seeds from Pompeii dated to around the 3rd to 2nd century BCE. The earliest complete description of the citron was first attested from Theophrastus, c. 310 BCE. The agronomists of classical Rome made many references to the cultivation of citrus fruits within the limits of their empire.


title: Citrus

text: Lemons, pomelos, and sour oranges are believed to have been introduced to the Mediterranean later by Arab traders at around the 10th century CE; and sweet oranges by the Genoese and Portuguese from Asia during the 15th to 16th century. Mandarins were not introduced until the 19th century. This group of species has reached great importance in some of the Mediterranean countries, and in the case of orange, mandarin, and lemon trees, they found here soil and climatic conditions which allow them to achieve a high level of fruit quality, even better than in the regions from where they came.


title: Citrus

text: In cooler parts of Europe, citrus fruit was grown in orangeries starting in the 17th century; many were as much status symbols as functional agricultural structures.


title: Citrus

text: The generic name originated from Latin, where it referred to either the plant now known as citron ("C. medica") or a conifer tree ("Thuja"). It is related to the ancient Greek word for cedar, κέδρος ("kédros"). This may be due to perceived similarities in the smell of citrus leaves and fruit with that of cedar. Collectively, "Citrus" fruits and plants are also known by the Romance loanword "agrumes" (literally "sour fruits").


title: Citrus

text: The large citrus fruit of today evolved originally from small, edible berries over millions of years. Citrus species began to diverge from a common ancestor about 15 million years ago, at about the same time that "Severinia" (such as the Chinese box orange) diverged from the same ancestor. About 7 million years ago, the ancestors of "Citrus" split into the main genus, "Citrus", and the genus "Poncirus" (such as the trifoliate orange), which is closely enough related that it can still be hybridized with all other citrus and used as rootstock. These estimates are made using genetic mapping of plant chloroplasts. A DNA study published in "Nature" in 2018 concludes that the genus "Citrus" first evolved in the foothills of the Himalayas, in the area of Assam (India), western Yunnan (China), and northern Myanmar.


title: Citrus

text: The three ancestral (sometimes characterized as "original" or "fundamental") species in the genus "Citrus" associated with modern "Citrus" cultivars are the mandarin orange, pomelo, and citron. Almost all of the common commercially important citrus fruits (sweet oranges, lemons, grapefruit, limes, and so on) are hybrids involving these three species with each other, their main progenies, and other wild "Citrus" species within the last few thousand years.


title: Citrus

text: In China, fossil leaf specimens of †"Citrus linczangensis" have been collected from coal-bearing strata of the Bangmai Formation in the Bangmai village, about 10 km (6 miles) northwest of Lincang City, Yunnan. The Bangmai Formation contains abundant fossil plants and is considered to be of late Miocene age. "Citrus linczangensis" and "C. meletensis" share some important characters, such as an intramarginal vein, an entire margin, and an articulated and distinctly winged petiole.


title: Citrus

text: The taxonomy and systematics of the genus are complex and the precise number of natural species is unclear, as many of the named species are hybrids clonally propagated through seeds (by apomixis), and genetic evidence indicates that even some wild, true-breeding species are of hybrid origin.


title: Citrus

text: Most cultivated "Citrus" spp. seem to be natural or artificial hybrids of a small number of core ancestral species, including the citron, pomelo, mandarin, and papeda (see image). Natural and cultivated citrus hybrids include commercially important fruit such as oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes, and some tangerines.


title: Citrus

text: Apart from these core citrus species, Australian limes and the recently discovered mangshanyegan are grown. Kumquats and "Clymenia" spp. are now generally considered to belong within the genus "Citrus". Trifoliate orange, which is often used as commercial rootstock, is an outgroup and may or may not be categorized as a citrus.


title: Citrus

text: Phylogenetic analysis suggested the species of "Oxanthera" from New Caledonia, commonly known as false oranges, should be transferred to the genus "Citrus". The transfer has been accepted.


title: Citrus

text: These plants are large shrubs or small to moderate-sized trees, reaching tall, with spiny shoots and alternately arranged evergreen leaves with an entire margin. The flowers are solitary or in small corymbs, each flower diameter, with five (rarely four) white petals and numerous stamens; they are often very strongly scented, due to the presence of essential oil glands.


title: Citrus

text: The fruit is a hesperidium, a specialised berry, globose to elongated, long and diameter, with a leathery rind or "peel" called a pericarp. The outermost layer of the pericarp is an "exocarp" called the flavedo, commonly referred to as the zest. The middle layer of the pericarp is the mesocarp, which in citrus fruits consists of the white, spongy "albedo", or "pith". The innermost layer of the pericarp is the endocarp. The space inside each segment is a locule filled with juice vesicles, or "pulp". From the endocarp, string-like "hairs" extend into the locules, which provide nourishment to the fruit as it develops. Many citrus cultivars have been developed to be seedless (see nucellar embryony and parthenocarpy) and easy to peel.


title: Citrus

text: Citrus fruits are notable for their fragrance, partly due to flavonoids and limonoids (which in turn are terpenes) contained in the rind, and most are juice-laden. The juice contains a high quantity of citric acid and other organic acids giving them their characteristic sharp flavour. The genus is commercially important as many species are cultivated for their fruit, which is eaten fresh, pressed for juice, or preserved in marmalades and pickles.


title: Citrus

text: They are also good sources of vitamin C. The content of vitamin C in the fruit depends on the species, variety, and mode of cultivation.


title: Citrus

text: Citrus trees hybridise very readily – depending on the pollen source, plants grown from a Persian lime's seeds can produce fruit similar to grapefruit. Thus, all commercial citrus cultivation uses trees produced by grafting the desired fruiting cultivars onto rootstocks selected for disease resistance and hardiness.


title: Citrus

text: The colour of citrus fruits only develops in climates with a (diurnal) cool winter. In tropical regions with no winter at all, citrus fruits remain green until maturity, hence the tropical "green oranges". The Persian lime in particular is extremely sensitive to cool conditions, thus it is not usually exposed to cool enough conditions to develop a mature colour. If they are left in a cool place over winter, the fruits will change colour to yellow.


title: Citrus

text: The terms "ripe" and "mature" are usually used synonymously, but they mean different things. A mature fruit is one that has completed its growth phase. Ripening is the changes that occur within the fruit after it is mature to the beginning of decay. These changes usually involve starches converting to sugars, a decrease in acids, softening, and change in the fruit's colour.


title: Citrus

text: Citrus fruits are nonclimacteric and respiration slowly declines and the production and release of ethylene is gradual. The fruits do not go through a ripening process in the sense that they become "tree ripe". Some fruits, for example cherries, physically mature and then continue to ripen on the tree. Other fruits, such as pears, are picked when mature, but before they ripen, then continue to ripen off the tree. Citrus fruits pass from immaturity to maturity to overmaturity while still on the tree. Once they are separated from the tree, they do not increase in sweetness or continue to ripen. The only way change may happen after being picked is that they eventually start to decay.


title: Citrus

text: With oranges, colour cannot be used as an indicator of ripeness because sometimes the rinds turn orange long before the oranges are ready to eat. Tasting them is the only way to know whether they are ready to eat.


title: Citrus

text: Citrus trees are not generally frost hardy. Mandarin oranges ("C. reticulata") tend to be the hardiest of the common "Citrus" species and can withstand short periods down to as cold as , but realistically temperatures not falling below are required for successful cultivation. Tangerines, tangors and yuzu can be grown outside even in regions with more marked subfreezing temperatures in winter, although this may affect fruit quality. A few hardy hybrids can withstand temperatures well below freezing, but do not produce quality fruit. Lemons can be commercially grown in cooler-summer/moderate-winter, coastal Southern California, because sweetness is neither attained nor expected in retail lemon fruit. The related trifoliate orange ("C. trifoliata") can survive below ; its fruit are astringent and inedible unless cooked, but a few better-tasting cultivars and hybrids have been developed (see citranges).


title: Citrus

text: The trees thrive in a consistently sunny, humid environment with fertile soil and adequate rainfall or irrigation. Abandoned trees in valleys may suffer, yet survive, the dry summer of Central California's Inner Coast Ranges. At any age, citrus grows well enough with infrequent irrigation in partial shade, but the fruit crop is smaller. Being of tropical and subtropical origin, oranges, like all citrus, are broadleaved and evergreen. They do not drop leaves except when stressed. The stems of many varieties have large sharp thorns. The trees flower in the spring, and fruit is set shortly afterward. Fruit begins to ripen in fall or early winter, depending on cultivar, and develops increasing sweetness afterward. Some cultivars of tangerines ripen by winter. Some, such as the grapefruit, may take up to 18 months to ripen.


title: Citrus

text: According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, world production of all citrus fruits in 2016 was , with about half of this production as oranges. At US $15.2 billion equivalent in 2018, citrus trade makes up nearly half of the world fruit trade, which was US $32.1 billion for the same year. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), citrus production grew during the early 21st century mainly by the increase in cultivation areas, improvements in transportation and packaging, rising incomes and consumer preference for healthy foods. In 2019–20, world production of oranges was estimated to be , led by Brazil, Mexico, the European Union, and China as the largest producers.


title: Citrus

text: Citrus trees grown in tubs and wintered under cover were a feature of Renaissance gardens, once glass-making technology enabled sufficient expanses of clear glass to be produced. An orangery was a feature of royal and aristocratic residences through the 17th and 18th centuries. The "Orangerie" at the Palace of the Louvre, 1617, inspired imitations that were not eclipsed until the development of the modern greenhouse in the 1840s. In the United States, the earliest surviving orangery is at the Tayloe House, Mount Airy, Virginia. George Washington had an orangery at Mount Vernon.


title: Citrus

text: Some modern hobbyists still grow dwarf citrus in containers or greenhouses in areas where the weather is too cold to grow it outdoors. Consistent climate, sufficient sunlight, and proper watering are crucial if the trees are to thrive and produce fruit. Compared to many of the usual "green shrubs", citrus trees better tolerate poor container care. For cooler winter areas, limes and lemons should not be grown, since they are more sensitive to winter cold than other citrus fruits. Hybrids with kumquats (× "Citrofortunella") have good cold resistance. A citrus tree in a container may have to be repotted every 5 years or so, since the roots may form a thick "root-ball" on the bottom of the pot.


title: Citrus

text: Citrus plants are very liable to infestation by aphids, whitefly, and scale insects (e.g. California red scale). Also rather important are the viral infections to which some of these ectoparasites serve as vectors such as the aphid-transmitted "Citrus tristeza virus", which when unchecked by proper methods of control is devastating to citrine plantations. The newest threat to citrus groves in the United States is the Asian citrus psyllid.


title: Citrus

text: The Asian citrus psyllid is an aphid-like insect that feeds on the leaves and stems of citrus trees and other citrus-like plants. The real danger lies in the fact that the psyllid can carry a deadly, bacterial tree disease called Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as citrus greening disease. Because the causative bacteria are not culturable, evaluation of resistant cultivars and vectors is slow. There are some HLB-resistant and vector-resistant citrus strains known, and genetic engineering and new chemical controls have been proven in laboratory use and show promise for field use.


title: Citrus

text: In August 2005, citrus greening disease was discovered in the south Florida region around Homestead and Florida City. The disease has since spread to every commercial citrus grove in Florida. In 2004–2005, USDA statistics reported the total Florida citrus production to be 169.1 million boxes of fruit. The estimate for all Florida citrus production in the 2015–2016 season is 94.2 million boxes, a 44.3% drop. Carolyn Slupsky, a professor of nutrition and food science at the University of California, Davis has said that "we could lose all fresh citrus within 10 to 15 years".


title: Citrus

text: In June 2008, the psyllid was spotted dangerously close to California – right across the international border in Tijuana, Mexico. Only a few months later, it was detected in San Diego and Imperial Counties, and has since spread to Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, sparking quarantines in those areas. The Asian citrus psyllid has also been intercepted coming into California in packages of fruit and plants, including citrus, ornamentals, herbs and bouquets of cut flowers, shipped from other states and countries.


title: Citrus

text: The foliage is also used as a food plant by the larvae of Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species such as the Geometridae common emerald ("Hemithea aestivaria") and double-striped pug ("Gymnoscelis rufifasciata"), the Arctiidae giant leopard moth ("Hypercompe scribonia"), "H. eridanus", "H. icasia" and "H. indecisa", many species in the family Papilionidae (swallowtail butterflies), and the black-lyre leafroller moth (""Cnephasia" jactatana"), a tortrix moth.


title: Citrus

text: Since 2000, the citrus leafminer ("Phyllocnistis citrella") has been a pest in California, boring meandering patterns through leaves.


title: Citrus

text: In eastern Australia, the bronze-orange bug ("Musgraveia sulciventris") can be a major pest of citrus trees, particularly grapefruit. In heavy infestations it can cause flower and fruit drop and general tree stress.


title: Citrus

text: European brown snails ("Cornu aspersum") can be a problem in California, though laying female Khaki Campbell and other mallard-related ducks can be used for control.


title: Citrus

text: Citrus plants can also develop a deficiency condition called chlorosis, characterized by yellowing leaves highlighted by contrasting leaf veins. The shriveling leaves eventually fall, and if the plant loses too many, it will slowly die. This condition is often caused by an excessively high pH (alkaline soil), which prevents the plant from absorbing iron, magnesium, zinc, or other nutrients it needs to produce chlorophyll. This condition can be cured by adding an appropriate acidic fertilizer formulated for citrus, which can sometimes revive a plant to produce new leaves and even flower buds within a few weeks under optimum conditions. A soil which is too acidic can also cause problems; citrus prefers neutral soil (pH between 6 and 8). Citrus plants are also sensitive to excessive salt in the soil. Soil testing may be necessary to properly diagnose nutrient-deficiency diseases.


title: Citrus

text: Many citrus fruits, such as oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, and clementines, are generally eaten fresh. They are typically peeled and can be easily split into segments. Grapefruit is more commonly halved and eaten out of the skin with a spoon. Special spoons (grapefruit spoons) with serrated tips are designed for this purpose. Orange and grapefruit juices are also popular breakfast beverages. More acidic citrus, such as lemons and limes, are generally not eaten on their own. Meyer lemons can be eaten out of hand with the fragrant skin; they are both sweet and sour. Lemonade or limeade are popular beverages prepared by diluting the juices of these fruits and adding sugar. Lemons and limes are also used in cooked dishes, or sliced and used as garnishes. Their juice is used as an ingredient in a variety of dishes; it can commonly be found in salad dressings and squeezed over cooked fish, meat, or vegetables.


title: Citrus

text: A variety of flavours can be derived from different parts and treatments of citrus fruits. The rind and oil of the fruit is generally bitter, especially when cooked, so is often combined with sugar. The fruit pulp can vary from sweet to extremely sour. Marmalade, a condiment derived from cooked orange and lemon, can be especially bitter, but is usually sweetened with sugar to cut the bitterness and produce a jam-like result. Lemon or lime is commonly used as a garnish for water, soft drinks, or cocktails. Citrus juices, rinds, or slices are used in a variety of mixed drinks. The colourful outer skin of some citrus fruits, known as zest, is used as a flavouring in cooking; the white inner portion of the peel, the pith, is usually avoided due to its bitterness. The zest of a citrus fruit, typically lemon or an orange, can also be soaked in water in a coffee filter, and drunk.


title: Citrus

text: Some "Citrus" species contain significant amounts of the phytochemical class called furanocoumarins, a diverse family of naturally occurring organic chemical compounds. In humans, some (not all) of these chemical compounds act as strong photosensitizers when applied topically to the skin, while other furanocoumarins interact with medications when taken orally. The latter is called the "grapefruit juice effect", a common name for a related group of grapefruit-drug interactions.


title: Citrus

text: Due to the photosensitizing effects of certain furanocoumarins, some "Citrus" species are known to cause phytophotodermatitis, a potentially severe skin inflammation resulting from contact with a light-sensitizing botanical agent followed by exposure to ultraviolet light. In "Citrus" species, the primary photosensitizing agent appears to be bergapten, a linear furanocoumarin derived from psoralen. This claim has been confirmed for lime and bergamot. In particular, bergamot essential oil has a higher concentration of bergapten (3000–3600 mg/kg) than any other "Citrus"-based essential oil.


title: Citrus

text: In general, three "Citrus" ancestral species (pomelos, citrons, and papedas) synthesize relatively high quantities of furanocoumarins, whereas a fourth ancestral species (mandarins) is practically devoid of these compounds. Since the production of furanocoumarins in plants is believed to be heritable, the descendants of mandarins (such as sweet oranges, tangerines, and other small mandarin hybrids) are expected to have low quantities of furanocoumarins, whereas other hybrids (such as limes, grapefruit, and sour oranges) are expected to have relatively high quantities of these compounds.


title: Citrus

text: In most "Citrus" species, the peel contains a greater diversity and a higher concentration of furanocoumarins than the pulp of the same fruit. An exception is bergamottin, a furanocoumarin implicated in grapefruit-drug interactions, which is more concentrated in the pulp of certain varieties of pomelo, grapefruit, and sour orange.


title: Citrus

text: One review of preliminary research on diets indicated that consuming citrus fruits was associated with a 10% reduction of risk for developing breast cancer.


title: Citrus

text: The genus "Citrus" has been suggested to originate in the eastern Himalayan foothills. Prior to human cultivation, it consisted of just a few species, though the status of some as distinct species has yet to be confirmed:


title: Citrus

text: Sorted by parentage. As each hybrid is the product of (at least) two parent species, they are listed multiple times.


title: Citrus

text: For hybrids with kumquats, see citrofortunella. For hybrids with the trifoliate orange, see citrange.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Edward John Smith (27 January 1850 – 15 April 1912) was a British naval officer. He served as master of numerous White Star Line vessels. He was the captain of the , and perished when the ship sank on her maiden voyage.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Raised in a working class environment, he left school early to join the merchant navy and the Royal Naval Reserve. After earning his master's ticket, he entered the service of the White Star Line, a prestigious British company. He quickly rose through the ranks and graduated in 1887. His first command was . He served as commanding officer of numerous White Star Line vessels, including (which he commanded for nine years) and attracted a strong and loyal following amongst passengers.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: In 1904, Smith became the commodore of the White Star Line and was responsible for controlling its flagships. He successfully commanded , and . In 1912, he was the captain of the maiden voyage of the RMS "Titanic", which struck an iceberg and sank on 15 April 1912; over 1,500 perished in the sinking, including Smith, who went down with the ship. For his stoicism and fortitude in the face of adversity, Smith became an icon of British "stiff upper lip" spirit and discipline.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Edward John Smith was born on 27 January 1850 on Well Street, Hanley, Staffordshire, England to Edward Smith, a potter, and Catherine Hancock, born Marsh, who married on 2 August 1841 in Shelton, Staffordshire. His parents later owned a shop.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Smith attended the Etruria British School until the age of 13 when he left and operated a steam hammer at the Etruria Forge. In 1867, aged 17 he went to Liverpool in the footsteps of his half-brother Joseph Hancock, a captain on a sailing ship. He began his apprenticeship on "Senator Weber", owned by A Gibson & Co. of Liverpool.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: On 13 January 1887, Smith married Sarah Eleanor Pennington at St Oswald's Church, Winwick, Lancashire. Their daughter, Helen Melville Smith, was born in Waterloo, Liverpool on 2 April 1898. When the White Star line transferred its transatlantic port from Liverpool to Southampton in 1907 the family moved to a red brick, twin-gabled house, named "Woodhead", on Winn Road, Highfield, Southampton, Hampshire.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Edward Smith joined the White Star Line in March 1880 as the Fourth Officer of . He served aboard the company's liners to Australia and to New York City, where he quickly rose in status. In 1887, he received his first White Star command, the . In 1888, Smith earned his Extra Master's Certificate and joined the Royal Naval Reserve, receiving a commission as a Lieutenant, which entitled him to add the letters "RNR" after his name. This meant that in a time of war he could be called upon to serve in the Royal Navy. His ships had the distinction of being able to fly the Blue Ensign of the RNR; British merchant vessels generally flew the Red Ensign. Smith retired from the RNR in 1905 with the rank of Commander.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Smith was 's captain for nine years commencing in 1895. When the Boer War started in 1899, "Majestic" was called upon to transport troops to Cape Colony. Smith made two trips to South Africa, both without incident, and in 1903, for his service, King Edward VII awarded him the Transport Medal, showing the "South Africa" clasp. Smith was regarded as a "safe captain". As he rose in seniority, he gained a following amongst passengers with some sailing the Atlantic only on a ship he captained.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Smith even became known as the "Millionaires' Captain". From 1904 on, Smith commanded the White Star Line's newest ships on their maiden voyages. In 1904, he was given command of what was then the largest ship in the world, the . Her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York, sailing 29 June 1904, went without incident. After three years with "Baltic", Smith was given his second new "big ship," the . Once again, the maiden voyage went without incident. During his command of "Adriatic", Smith received the long service Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve (RD).


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: As one of the world's most experienced sea captains, Smith was called upon to take first command of the lead ship in a new class of ocean liners, the – again, the largest vessel in the world at that time. The maiden voyage from Southampton to New York was successfully concluded on 21 June 1911, but as the ship was docking in New York harbour, a small incident took place. Docking at Pier 59 under the command of Captain Smith with the assistance of a harbour pilot, "Olympic" was being assisted by twelve tugs when one got caught in the backwash of "Olympic", spun around, collided with the bigger ship, and for a moment was trapped under "Olympic's" stern, finally managing to work free and limp to the docks.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: On 20 September 1911, "Olympic"s first major mishap occurred during a collision with a British warship, , in which the warship lost her prow. Although the collision left two of "Olympic"s compartments filled and one of her propeller shafts twisted, she was able to limp back to Southampton. At the resultant inquiry, the Royal Navy blamed "Olympic", finding that her massive size generated a suction that pulled "Hawke" into her side. Captain Smith had been on the bridge during the events.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: The "Hawke" incident was a financial disaster for White Star, and the out-of-service time for the big liner made matters worse. "Olympic" returned to Belfast and, to speed up the repairs, Harland and Wolff was forced to delay "Titanic"s completion in order to use one of her propeller shafts and other parts for "Olympic". Back at sea in February 1912, "Olympic" lost a propeller blade and once again returned for emergency repairs. To get her back to service immediately, Harland and Wolff again had to pull resources from "Titanic", delaying her maiden voyage from 20 March to 10 April.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Despite the past trouble, Smith was again appointed to command the newest ship in the Olympic class when the RMS "Titanic" left Southampton for her maiden voyage. Although some sources state that he had decided to retire after completing "Titanic"s maiden voyage, an article in the Halifax "Morning Chronicle" on 9 April 1912 stated that Smith would remain in charge of "Titanic" "until the Company (White Star Line) completed a larger and finer steamer."


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: On 10 April 1912, Smith came aboard "Titanic" at 7 a.m. to prepare for the Board of Trade muster at 8:00 a.m. He immediately went to his cabin to get the sailing report from Chief Officer Henry Wilde. After departure at noon, the huge amount of water displaced by "Titanic" as she passed caused the laid-up "New York" to break from her moorings and swing towards "Titanic." Quick action from Smith helped to avert a premature end to the maiden voyage.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: The first four days of the voyage passed without incident, but on 14 April 1912, "Titanic"s radio operators received six messages from other ships warning of drifting ice, which passengers on "Titanic" had begun to notice during the afternoon.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Although the crew was thus aware of ice in the vicinity, they did not reduce the ship's speed and continued to steam at , only short of her maximum speed of . "Titanic"s high speed in waters where ice had been reported was later criticised as reckless, but it reflected standard maritime practice at the time. According to Fifth Officer Harold Lowe, the custom was "to go ahead and depend upon the lookouts in the crow's nest and the watch on the bridge to pick up the ice in time to avoid hitting it".


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: The North Atlantic liners prioritised time-keeping above all other considerations, sticking rigidly to a schedule that would guarantee arrival at an advertised time. They were frequently driven at close to their full speed, treating hazard warnings as advisories rather than calls to action. It was widely believed that ice posed little risk; close calls were not uncommon, and even head-on collisions had not been disastrous. In 1907, , a German liner, had rammed an iceberg and suffered a crushed bow, but was still able to complete her voyage. That same year, "Titanic"s future captain, Edward Smith, declared in an interview that he could not "imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that."


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Shortly after 11:40 p.m. on 14 April, Smith was informed by First Officer William Murdoch that the ship had just collided with an iceberg. It was soon apparent that the ship was seriously damaged; designer Thomas Andrews reported that all of the first five of the ship's watertight compartments had been breached and that "Titanic" would sink in under two hours.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: There are conflicting reports about Smith's actions during the evacuation. Some say that he did all in his power to prevent panic and did his best to assist in the evacuation; Major Arthur Godfrey Peuchen of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club said "He was doing everything in his power to get women in these boats, and to see that they were lowered properly. I thought he was doing his duty in regard to the lowering of the boats". Robert Williams Daniel, a first class passenger, also said:


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Other sources say that he was very ineffective and inactive in preventing loss of life. Captain Smith was an experienced seaman who had served for 40 years at sea, including 27 years in command. This was the first crisis of his career, and he would have known that even if all the boats were fully occupied, more than a thousand people would remain on the ship as she went down, with little or no chance of survival. As Smith began to grasp the enormity of what was about to happen, he appears to have become paralysed by indecision. He had ordered passengers and crew to muster, but from that point onward, he failed to order his officers to put the passengers into the lifeboats; he did not adequately organise the crew; he failed to convey crucial information to his officers and crew; he sometimes gave ambiguous or impractical orders and he never gave the command to abandon ship. Even some of his bridge officers were unaware for some time after the collision that the ship was sinking; Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall did not find out until 01:15, barely an hour before the ship went down, while Quartermaster George Rowe was so unaware of the emergency that after the evacuation had started, he phoned the bridge from his watch station to ask why he had just seen a lifeboat go past. Smith did not inform his officers that the ship did not have enough lifeboats to save everyone. He did not supervise the loading of the lifeboats and seemingly made no effort to find out if his orders were being followed.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Just minutes before the ship started its final plunge, Smith was still busy releasing "Titanic" crew from their duties; he went to the Marconi operators room and released Junior Marconi Officer Harold Bride and senior wireless operator John "Jack" Phillips from their duties. He then carried out a final tour of the deck, telling crew members: "Now it's every man for himself." At 2:10 a.m., Steward Edward Brown saw the captain approach with a megaphone in his hand. He heard him say "Well boys, do your best for the women and children, and look out for yourselves." He saw the Captain walk onto the bridge alone. This was the last reliable sighting of Smith. A few minutes later Trimmer Samuel Hemming found the bridge apparently empty. Five minutes later, the ship disappeared beneath the ocean. Smith perished that night along with around 1,500 others, and his body was never recovered.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: There are conflicting accounts of Smith's death. Some survivors said they saw Smith enter the ship's wheelhouse on the bridge, and die there when it was engulfed. The "New York Herald" in its 19 April 1912 edition quoted Robert Williams Daniel, who jumped from the stern immediately before the ship sank, in its 19 April 1912 edition as having claimed to have witnessed Captain Smith drown in the ship's wheelhouse. ""I saw Captain Smith on the bridge. My eyes seemingly clung to him. The deck from which I had leapt was immersed. The water had risen slowly, and was now to the floor of the bridge. Then it was to Captain Smith's waist. I saw him no more. He died a hero.""


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Captain Smith himself made statements hinting that he would go down with his ship if he was ever confronted with a disaster. A friend of Smith's, Dr. Williams, asked Captain Smith what would happen if the "Adriatic" struck a concealed reef of ice and was badly damaged. "Some of us would go to the bottom with the ship," was Smith's reply. A boyhood friend, William Jones said, "Ted Smith passed away just as he would have loved to do. To stand on the bridge of his vessel and go down with her was characteristic of all his actions when we were boys together." Because of these factors, as well as accounts of Smith going inside the wheelhouse, this has remained the iconic image of Smith, perpetuated by film portrayals.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: When working to free Collapsible B, Junior Marconi Officer Harold Bride said he saw Captain Smith dive from the bridge into the sea just as Collapsible B was levered off the roof of the officers' quarters, a story corroborated by first class passenger Mrs Eleanor Widener, who was in Lifeboat No.4 (the closest to the sinking ship) at the time. Also second class passenger William John Mellors, who survived aboard Collapsible B, stated that Smith jumped from the bridge. Tim Maltin, author of "101 Things You Thought You Knew About The Titanic - But Didn't!" affirms that the witnesses "could here be mistaking Captain Smith for Lightoller, who we know did exactly this at this time, first swimming towards the crow's nest."


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Several accounts say that Smith may have been seen in the water near the overturned Collapsible B during or after the sinking. Colonel Archibald Gracie reported that an unknown swimmer came near the capsized and overcrowded lifeboat and that one of the men on board told him "Hold on to what you have, old boy. One more of you aboard would sink us all,"; in a powerful voice, the swimmer replied "All right boys. Good luck and God bless you.". Gracie did not see this man, nor was able to identify him, but some other survivors later claimed to have recognised this man as Smith. Another man (or possibly the same) never asked to come aboard the boat, but instead cheered its occupants saying "Good boys! Good lads!" with "the voice of authority".


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: One of the Collapsible B survivors, fireman Walter Hurst, tried to reach him with an oar, but the rapidly rising swell carried the man away before he could reach him. Hurst said he was certain this man was Smith. Some of these accounts also describe Smith carrying a child to the boat. Harry Senior, one of "Titanic"s stokers, and second class passenger Charles Eugene Williams, who both survived aboard Collapsible B, stated that Smith swam with a child in his arms to Collapsible B, which Smith presented to a steward, after which he apparently swam back to the rapidly foundering ship. Williams' account differs slightly, claiming that, after Smith handed the child over to the steward, he asked what had become of First Officer Murdoch.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Upon hearing news of Murdoch's demise, Smith "pushed himself away from the lifeboat, threw his lifebelt from him and slowly sank from our sight. He did not come to the surface again." These accounts are almost certainly apocryphal, according to historians featured in the A&E Documentary "". Lightoller who survived on Collapsible B never reported seeing Smith in the water or receiving a child from him. There is also no way survivors on Collapsible B would have been able to verify an individual's identity under such dimly lit and chaotic circumstances. It is more likely based on wishful thinking that the person they saw was the Captain. Captain Smith's fate will probably remain uncertain.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: For many years, there were also conflicting accounts of Smith's last words. Newspaper reports said that as the final plunge began, Smith advised those on board to "Be British, boys. Be British!" Although this is engraved on his memorial and portrayed in the 1996 TV miniseries, it is a myth popularised by the British press at the time. If Smith had said these words to anyone, it would have been to the crew, but not one of the surviving crew members claimed he did. Because Steward Brown's account of Smith giving orders before walking onto the bridge was the last reliable sighting, this would make Smith's last words simply: "Well, boys, do your best for the women and children, and look out for yourselves."


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: A statue, sculpted by Kathleen Scott, wife of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott, was unveiled in July 1914 at the western end of the Museum Gardens in Beacon Park, Lichfield. The pedestal is made from Cornish granite and the figure is bronze. Lichfield was chosen as the location for the monument because Smith was a Staffordshire man and Lichfield was the centre of the diocese. The statue originally cost £740 (£ with inflation) raised through local and national contributions.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: For his stoicism and stiff upper lip self-discipline, fortitude and remaining calm in the face of adversity, which popular culture rendered into a British character trait, the plaque below his memorial statue states, "bequeathing to his countrymen, the memory [and] example of a great heart, a brave life and a heroic death, 'be British.'"


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: In 2010, as part of the "Parks for People" programme, the statue was restored and the green patina removed from its surface at a cost of £16,000. In 2011 an unsuccessful campaign was started to get the statue moved to Captain Smith's home town of Hanley.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Smith had already been commemorated in Hanley Town Hall with a plaque reading: "This tablet is dedicated to the memory of Commander Edward John Smith RD, RNR. Born in Hanley, 27th Jany 1850, died at sea, 15th April 1912. Whilst in command of the White Star SS "Titanic" that great ship struck an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean during the night and speedily sank with nearly all who were on board. Captain Smith having done all man could do for the safety of passengers and crew remained at his post on the sinking ship until the end. His last message to the crew was 'Be British.'"


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: The plaque was removed in 1961, given to a local school and then returned to the Town Hall but remounted in the interior of the building in 1978. The Titanic Brewery in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, is in honour of him.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: As a member of the Royal Naval Reserve, Smith wore his two decorations when in uniform: the Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve and the Transport Medal.


title: Edward Smith (sea captain)

text: Smith's mother, Catherine Hancock, lived in Runcorn, Cheshire, where Smith himself intended to retire. She died there in 1893. Smith's half-sister Thyrza died in 1921 and his widow, Sarah Eleanor Smith, was hit and killed by a taxi in London in 1931. Their daughter, Helen Melville, married and gave birth to twins, Simon and Priscilla. Simon, a pilot in the Royal Air Force, was killed in World War II. Priscilla died from polio three years later; neither of them had children. Helen died in 1973.


title: Brené Brown

text: Casandra Brené Brown (born November 18, 1965) is an American professor, lecturer, author, and podcast host. Brown is known in particular for her research on shame, vulnerability, and leadership, and for her widely viewed TEDx talk in 2010. Since then she has written six number-one "New York Times" bestselling books, hosts two podcasts, and has filmed a lecture for Netflix as well as a series about her latest book, "Atlas of the Heart" on HBO Max.


title: Brené Brown

text: Brown holds the Huffington Foundation's Brené Brown Endowed Chair at the University of Houston's Graduate College of Social Work and is a visiting professor in management at McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.


title: Brené Brown

text: Brown was born on November 18, 1965, in San Antonio, Texas, where her parents Charles Arthur Brown and Casandra Deanne Rogers had her baptized in the Episcopal Church. She is the eldest of four children. Her family then moved to New Orleans.


title: Brené Brown

text: Brown completed a Bachelor of Social Work degree at the University of Texas at Austin in 1995, followed by a Master of Social Work degree in 1996, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in social work at the University of Houston in 2002.


title: Brené Brown

text: Brown has studied the topics of courage, vulnerability, shame, empathy, and leadership, which she has used to look at human connection and how it works. She has spent her research career as a professor at her alma mater, the University of Houston's Graduate College of Social Work.


title: Brené Brown

text: Brown's TEDx talk from Houston in 2010, "The Power of Vulnerability", is one of the five most viewed TED talks. Its popularity shifted her work from relative obscurity in academia into the mainstream spotlight. The talk "summarizes a decade of Brown's research on shame, framing her weightiest discoveries in self-deprecating and personal terms." Reggie Ugwu for "The New York Times" said that this event gave the world "a new star of social psychology." She went on to follow this popular TED talk with another titled "Listening to Shame" in 2012. In the second talk she talks about how her life has changed since the first talk and explains the connection between shame and vulnerability, building on the thesis of her first TED talk.


title: Brené Brown

text: She also has a less well-known talk from 2010 given at TEDxKC titled "The Price of Invulnerability." In it she explains that when numbing hard and difficult feelings, essentially feeling vulnerable, we also numb positive emotions, like joy. This led to the creation of her filmed lecture, "", which debuted on Netflix in 2019. "USA Today" called it "a mix of a motivational speech and stand-up comedy special." Brown discusses how and why to choose courage over comfort, equating being brave to being vulnerable. According to her research, doing this opens people to love, joy, and belonging by allowing them to better know themselves and more deeply connect with other people.


title: Brené Brown

text: Brown regularly works as a public speaker at private events and businesses, such as at Alain de Botton's School of Life and at Google and Disney.


title: Brené Brown

text: She is, as of 2021, the author of six number-one "New York Times" bestsellers: "The Gifts of Imperfection", "Daring Greatly", "Rising Strong", "Braving the Wilderness", "Dare to Lead", and "Atlas of the Heart". She discussed "Daring Greatly" with Oprah Winfrey on "Super Soul Sunday" in March 2013. The book's title comes from a 1910 Theodore Roosevelt speech, "Citizenship in a Republic", given at the Sorbonne. Her most recent work, "Atlas of the Heart", was published in November 2021, with the goal of helping readers expand their emotional vocabulary—the language they have to communicate their feelings.


title: Brené Brown

text: Brown wrote a chapter of advice in Tim Ferriss' book "Tools of Titans". With Tarana Burke, she co-created "You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience", an anthology of essays by Black individuals discussing the trauma of white supremacy as well as the experiences of Black love and Black life.


title: Brené Brown

text: In 2020, Brown began hosting the "Unlocking Us" and "Dare to Lead" podcasts. "Unlocking Us" alternates between interviews with guests and solo episodes where Brown talks alone, directly to listeners. In solo episodes, she tells stories from her life, explains learnings from her research, and supplements it with summaries of other related social science work. Interview guests have included grief expert David Kessler, singer Alicia Keys, writer Glennon Doyle, and activist Tarana Burke who started the Me Too movement.


title: Brené Brown

text: Brown is CEO of "The Daring Way", a professional training and certification program on the topics of vulnerability, courage, shame, and empathy. She appeared as herself in the movie "Wine Country". Her five-part docuseries, "Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart", was released on HBO Max in 2022.


title: Brené Brown

text: Though she was baptized in the Episcopal Church, her family raised her as a Catholic. She later left the Catholic Church and returned to the Episcopal community with her husband and children two decades later.


title: Brené Brown

text: During her time in higher education, Brown has described addiction to a combination of alcohol, smoking, emotional eating and an addiction to control. Brown stopped drinking and smoking on May 12, 1996, one day after her master's program graduation. She has been sober since then and often talks about the positive impact of that on her life.


title: Brené Brown

text: In 2009 "Houston Woman Magazine" voted Brown one of the city's most influential women. She has also received teaching awards, including the Graduate College of Social Work's Outstanding Faculty Award. In 2016 the Huffington Foundation pledged $2 million over four years to endow a research chair in her name at the Graduate College of Social Work, where she guides the training of social work students in grounded theory methodology and in her research into vulnerability, courage, shame, and empathy. In 2022, her book Atlas of the Heart won the Goodreads Choice award for Best Nonfiction.


title: Otto Frank

text: Otto Heinrich Frank (12 May 1889 – 19 August 1980) was a German businessman who later became a resident of the Netherlands and Switzerland. He was the father of Anne and Margot Frank and husband of Edith Frank, and was the sole member of his family to survive the Holocaust. He inherited Anne's manuscripts after her death, arranged for the publication of her diary as "Het Achterhuis" in 1947 (known in English as "The Diary of a Young Girl"), and oversaw its adaptation to both theater and film.


title: Otto Frank

text: Otto Heinrich Frank was born into a liberal Jewish family. He was the second of four children born to Alice Betty (née Stern, 1865–1953) and Michael Frank (1851–1909). His elder brother was Robert Frank, and younger siblings were Herbert Frank and Helene (Leni) Frank. Otto was a cousin of the furniture designer Jean-Michel Frank and a grandson of Zacharias Frank. His father originally came from the town of Landau, and moved to Frankfurt in 1879, marrying Alice Stern in 1886. Alice and Michael Frank placed value on a middle-class education. Otto had music lessons, learned to ride a horse and visited the theatre and opera regularly. The Frank family enjoyed a large circle of friends, and kept a welcoming home. Otto studied economics in Heidelberg from 1908 to 1909 and had a work experience placement at Macy's Department Store in New York City thanks to a college friend his age, Nathan Straus Jr. However, after leaving for New York, he had to return home briefly because of his father's death in September 1909, before once again leaving for the United States. He returned to Germany two years later in 1911.


title: Otto Frank

text: Frank served in the Imperial German Army during the First World War. He and his two brothers were drafted for military service in August 1915 and after training at a depot in Mainz, he served in an artillery unit on the Western Front in which most soldiers were mathematicians and surveyors. He was attached to the infantry as a range-finder at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. In 1917, he was promoted in the field to lieutenant and served at the Battle of Cambrai, where two of his French cousins, Oscar and Georges, were killed in action. According to other sources, Otto was late returning home because he was ordered to confiscate two horses from a farmer and returned them to the farmer when the war ended in defeat.


title: Otto Frank

text: Frank worked in the bank that his father initially ran, which subsequently he and his brothers inherited until its collapse in the early 1930s. He married Edith Holländer – an heiress to a scrap-metal and industrial-supply business – on his 36th birthday, 12 May 1925, at the synagogue in Aachen, Edith's hometown. Edith was 25 when they married. Their elder daughter, Margot Frank (Margot Betti), was born 16 February 1926, followed by their younger daughter, Anne (Annelies Marie), on 12 June 1929. Edith died of starvation and disease in Auschwitz on 6 January 1945. In late October 1944, Margot and Anne were transferred from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where they died of typhus.


title: Otto Frank

text: In 1953, Frank married Elfriede (Fritzi) Markovits, a Holocaust survivor, who assisted him with the Anne Frank Foundation in Basel, which he launched a decade later. Markovits's daughter, Eva Schloss, is a Holocaust survivor, peace activist and international speaker.


title: Otto Frank

text: As the tide of Nazism rose in Germany and anti-Jewish decrees encouraged attacks on Jewish individuals and families, Otto decided to evacuate his family. In August 1933, they relocated to Aachen, where his mother-in-law, Rosa Hollander resided, in preparation for a subsequent and final move to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. In the same year, Otto's widowed mother, Alice Frank, fled to Switzerland.


title: Otto Frank

text: Otto's brother-in-law Erich Elias (the husband of his younger sister Leni and father of Buddy Elias) worked in Basel for Opekta, a company that sold spices and pectin for use in the manufacture of jam. Originating in Germany, the company was looking to expand its operations in Europe, and Erich arranged for Otto to work as Opekta's agent in Amsterdam, allowing Otto to have an income to support his family. Otto and his family lived in Merwedeplein in the modern suburb of Amsterdam-Zuid; they came to know many other German emigrant families. In 1938, Otto Frank started a second company, Pectacon, which was a wholesaler of herbs, pickling salts, and mixed spices, used in the production of sausages. Hermann van Pels was employed by Pectacon as an advisor about spices. A Jewish butcher, he had fled Osnabrück with his family. In 1939, Edith Hollander's mother came to live with the Franks and remained with them until her death in January 1942. After Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, Otto Frank was forced by the Germans to give up his companies. Otto made his businesses look "Aryan" by transferring control to his employees.


title: Otto Frank

text: In 1938 and 1941, Frank attempted to obtain visas for his family to emigrate to the United States or Cuba. He was granted a single visa for himself to Cuba on 1 December 1941, but it is not known if it ever reached him. Ten days later, when Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy declared war on the United States, the visa was cancelled. He also attempted to obtain visas for his family to Britain, however, he was never granted the visas.


title: Otto Frank

text: At the age of 53, when the systematic deportation of Jews from the Netherlands started in the summer of 1942, Otto Frank took his family into hiding on 6 July 1942 in the upper rear rooms of the Opekta premises on the Prinsengracht, behind a concealing bookcase. The day before his older daughter, Margot, had received the written summons to report for so-called labour duty in Germany, and Otto immediately decided to move the family to safety. They were joined a week later by Hermann van Pels, who was known as Herman van Daan in Anne's diary, his wife, Auguste van Pels and their son, Peter van Pels. In November, the group was joined by Fritz Pfeffer, known in Anne's diary as Albert Dussel. Their concealment was aided by Otto Frank's colleagues Johannes Kleiman, whom he had known since 1923, Miep Gies, and her husband Jan Gies; Victor Kugler, and Bep Voskuijl.


title: Otto Frank

text: The group hid for two years, until their discovery in August 1944. It is not known if an informant, or chance discovery by authorities, ended their period of refuge. The group, along with Kugler and Kleiman, were arrested by SS Officer Karl Silberbauer. Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl were not arrested with the group. Miep managed to excuse herself by saying she knew nothing of those in hiding, and Johannes Kleiman managed to excuse Bep Voskuijl from being arrested. These two people would rescue Anne's diary before the Nazis cleared out the hiding place.


title: Otto Frank

text: After being imprisoned in Amsterdam, the Jewish prisoners were sent to the Dutch transit camp of Westerbork and finally, in September, to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where Frank was separated from his wife and daughters. He was sent to the men's barracks and was residing in the sick barracks when the camp was liberated by Soviet troops on 27 January 1945. After the liberation of Auschwitz, Otto Frank wrote to his mother in Switzerland, where she had fled in 1933 when Hitler came to power. He travelled back to the Netherlands over the next six months and searched diligently for his family and friends. By the end of 1945, he realized he was the sole survivor of those who had hidden in the house on the Prinsengracht.


title: Otto Frank

text: After Anne Frank's death was confirmed in the summer of 1945, her diary and papers were given to Otto Frank by Miep Gies, who had rescued them from the ransacked hiding place together with Bep Voskuijl. As Miep Gies wrote in her book, "Anne Frank Remembered", Mr. Frank immediately started to read the papers. Later he began transcribing them for his relatives in Switzerland. He was persuaded that Anne's writing shed light on the experiences of those who suffered persecution under the Nazis and was urged to consider publishing it. He typed out the diary into a single manuscript, editing out sections he thought too personal to his family or too mundane to be of interest to the general reader. The manuscript was read by Dutch historian Jan Romein, who reviewed it on 3 April 1946 for the "Het Parool" newspaper. This attracted the interest of Amsterdam's Contact Publishing, which accepted it for publication in the summer of 1946. Otto Frank is now recognized as a co-author of the diary.


title: Otto Frank

text: On 25 June 1947, the first Dutch edition of the diary was issued under the title "Het Achterhuis" ("The House Behind"). Its success led to an English translation in 1952, which led to a theatrical dramatisation in 1955 and eventually the film "The Diary of Anne Frank" (1959), with actor Joseph Schildkraut repeating his role as Otto.


title: Otto Frank

text: Otto Frank married former Amsterdam neighbor and fellow Auschwitz survivor Elfriede Geiringer (1905–1998) in Amsterdam on 10 November 1953, and the couple moved to Basel, Switzerland, where he had family, including relatives' children, with whom he shared his experiences. In 1963, he founded in Basel the Anne Frank Foundation (not to be confused with the Anne Frank Foundation in Amsterdam, see below), which is devoted to global distribution and use of the "Diary of Anne Frank." The non profit organisation uses the proceeds of the copyrights for charitable purposes, education, and scientific research"." In addition the Foundation in Basel supports projects in the field of human rights, racism and rights and promoting social justice.


title: Otto Frank

text: In response to a demolition order placed on the building in which Otto Frank and his family hid during the war, he and Johannes Kleiman helped establish the Anne Frank Foundation in Amsterdam on 3 May 1957, with the principal aim to save and restore the building so it could be opened to the general public. With the aid of public donations, the building and the adjacent one were purchased by the Amsterdam-based foundation. It opened as a museum (the Anne Frank House) on 3 May 1960 and is still in operation.


title: Otto Frank

text: The rest of his life Otto Frank dedicated himself to the publication of the diary and the ideals his daughter had expressed in it. Otto Frank died of lung cancer on 19 August 1980 in Birsfelden and his ashes were buried in the town's cemetery, where Elfriede would also be buried, in the same tomb, 18 years later. He was survived by his stepdaughter Eva Schloss, his sister Helene Frank (Edith Frank's sister-in-law) and her two children.


title: Otto Frank

text: Otto Frank designated the Anne Frank Foundation in Basel as his sole heir and legal successor, which means that the copyright on all Anne Frank's writings belongs to this organisation.


title: Otto Frank

text: In the years after the diaries were published, Otto Frank became embroiled in a series of legal battles with individuals who accused him or others of forging the manuscript; these cases would persist even after Frank's death in 1980. In 1959, Frank "lodged a criminal complaint on the grounds of libel, slander, defamation, maligning the memory of a deceased person and antisemitic utterances" against two members of the right-wing "Deutsche Reichspartei", Lothar Stielau and Heinrich Buddeberg, who had dismissed the diary as a work of fiction.


title: Otto Frank

text: In 1976, Nazi sympathizer Ernst Römer accused Frank of editing and fabricating parts of Anne's diary. Frank filed a lawsuit against him. As with the previous case, the court determined that the diary was authentic. Römer demanded a second investigation, but on this occasion the Hamburg District Court engaged Hamburg's "Bundeskriminalamt (BKA)". It was claimed that parts of her diary were written with ballpoint pen ink, which did not exist prior to 1951. However, the BKA found that these parts were simply two scraps of paper not attached to the manuscript, and clearly written in different handwriting, and some page numbers, presumed to have been added by Otto Frank when compiling the diary for publication. Reporters were unable to question Frank, as he died around the time of the discovery.


title: Otto Frank

text: Otto Frank was played by the British actor Ben Kingsley in the 2001 miniseries "". He was portrayed by the Italian actor Emilio Solfrizzi in the TV movie "Memories of Anne Frank".


title: Necromancy

text: Necromancy () is the practice of magic or black magic involving communication with the dead by summoning their spirits as apparitions or visions, or by resurrection for the purpose of divination; imparting the means to foretell future events; discovery of hidden knowledge; returning a person to life, or to use the dead as a weapon. Sometimes referred to as "death magic," the term is used in a more general sense to refer to black magic or witchcraft.


title: Necromancy

text: The word "necromancy" is adapted from Late Latin : a loan word from the post-Classical Greek (), a compound of Ancient Greek (, or 'dead body') and (, or 'divination'). The Koine Greek compound form was first documented in the writings of Origen of Alexandria in the 3rd century AD. The Classical Greek term was (), from the episode of the "Odyssey" in which Odysseus visits the realm of the dead souls, and in Hellenistic Greek; in Latin, and "necromancy" in 17th-century English.


title: Necromancy

text: Early necromancy was related to – and most likely evolved from – shamanism, which calls upon spirits such as the ghosts of ancestors. Classical necromancers addressed the dead in "a mixture of high-pitch squeaking and low droning", comparable to the trance-state mutterings of shamans.


title: Necromancy

text: Necromancy was prevalent throughout antiquity with records of its practice in ancient Egypt, Babylonia, Greece, Rome, and China. In his "Geographica", Strabo refers to (), or "diviners by the dead", as the foremost practitioners of divination among the people of Persia, and it is believed to have also been widespread among the peoples of Chaldea (particularly the Hermeticists, or "star-worshipers"), Etruria and Babylonia. The Babylonian necromancers were called or , and the spirits they raised were called . Traditional Chinese folk religion involves necromancy in seeking blessing from dead ancestors through ritual displays of filial piety.


title: Necromancy

text: The oldest literary account of necromancy is found in Homer's "Odyssey". Under the direction of Circe, a powerful sorceress, Odysseus travels to the underworld () in order to gain insight about his impending voyage home by raising the spirits of the dead through the use of spells which Circe has taught him. He wishes to invoke and question the shade of Tiresias in particular; however, he is unable to summon the seer's spirit without the assistance of others. The "Odyssey"s passages contain many descriptive references to necromantic rituals: rites must be performed around a pit with fire during nocturnal hours, and Odysseus has to follow a specific recipe, which includes the blood of sacrificial animals, to concoct a libation for the ghosts to drink while he recites prayers to both the ghosts and gods of the underworld.


title: Necromancy

text: Practices such as these, varying from the mundane to the grotesque, were commonly associated with necromancy. Rituals could be quite elaborate, involving magic circles, wands, talismans, and incantations. The necromancer might also surround himself with morbid aspects of death, which often included wearing the deceased's clothing and consuming foods that symbolized lifelessness and decay such as unleavened black bread and unfermented grape juice. Some necromancers even went so far as to take part in the mutilation and consumption of corpses. These ceremonies could carry on for hours, days, or even weeks, leading up to the eventual summoning of spirits. Frequently they were performed in places of interment or other melancholy venues that suited specific guidelines of the necromancer. Additionally, necromancers preferred to summon the recently departed based on the premise that their revelations were spoken more clearly. This timeframe was usually limited to the twelve months following the death of the physical body; once this period elapsed, necromancers would evoke the deceased's ghostly spirit instead.


title: Necromancy

text: While some cultures considered the knowledge of the dead to be unlimited, ancient Greeks and Romans believed that individual shades knew only certain things. The apparent value of their counsel may have been based on things they knew in life or knowledge they acquired after death. Ovid writes in his "Metamorphoses" of a marketplace in the underworld where the dead convene to exchange news and gossip.


title: Necromancy

text: There are also several references to necromancers – called "bone-conjurers" among Jews of the later Hellenistic period – in the Bible. The Book of Deuteronomy () explicitly warns the Israelites against engaging in the Canaanite practice of divination from the dead: Though Mosaic Law prescribed the death penalty to practitioners of necromancy (), this warning was not always heeded. One of the foremost examples is when King Saul had the Witch of Endor invoke the spirit of Samuel, a judge and prophet, from Sheol using a ritual conjuring pit (). However, the so-called witch was shocked at the presence of a familiar spirit in the image of Samuel for in I Sam 28:7 states "Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor" and in I Sam 28:12 says, "when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out in a loud voice." and the familiar spirit questioned his reawakening asking as if he were Samuel the Prophet, "Why hast thou disquieted me?" Saul did not receive a death penalty (his being the highest authority in the land) but he did receive it from God himself. 1 Chronicles 10:13 implies, "So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it" indicating that one of the reasons why Saul died was because of the counsel of one that had a familiar spirit and for evoking it.


title: Necromancy

text: Many medieval writers believed that actual resurrection required the assistance of God. They saw the practice of necromancy as conjuring demons who took the appearance of spirits. The practice became known explicitly as maleficium, and the Catholic Church condemned it. Though the practitioners of necromancy were linked by many common threads, there is no evidence that these necromancers ever organized as a group. One noted commonality among practitioners of necromancy was usually the utilization of certain toxic and hallucinogenic plants from the nightshade family such as black henbane, jimson weed, belladonna or mandrake, usually in magic salves or potions.


title: Necromancy

text: Medieval necromancy is believed to be a synthesis of astral magic derived from Arabic influences and exorcism derived from Christian and Jewish teachings. Arabic influences are evident in rituals that involve moon phases, sun placement, day and time. Fumigation and the act of burying images are also found in both astral magic and necromancy. Christian and Jewish influences appear in the symbols and in the conjuration formulas used in summoning rituals.


title: Necromancy

text: Practitioners were often members of the Christian clergy, though some nonclerical practitioners are recorded. In some instances, mere apprentices or those ordained to lower orders dabbled in the practice. They were connected by a belief in the manipulation of spiritual beings – especially demons – and magical practices. These practitioners were almost always literate and well educated. Most possessed basic knowledge of exorcism and had access to texts of astrology and of demonology. Clerical training was informal and university-based education rare. Most were trained under apprenticeships and were expected to have a basic knowledge of Latin, ritual and doctrine. This education was not always linked to spiritual guidance and seminaries were almost non-existent. This situation allowed some aspiring clerics to combine Christian rites with occult practices despite its condemnation in Christian doctrine.


title: Necromancy

text: Medieval practitioners believed they could accomplish three things with necromancy: will manipulation, illusions, and knowledge:


title: Necromancy

text: The act of performing medieval necromancy usually involved magic circles, conjurations, and sacrifices such as those shown in the "Munich Manual of Demonic Magic":


title: Necromancy

text: The rare confessions of those accused of necromancy suggest that there was a range of spell casting and related magical experimentation. It is difficult to determine if these details were due to their practices, as opposed to the whims of their interrogators. John of Salisbury is one of the first examples related by Richard Kieckhefer, but as a Parisian ecclesiastical court record of 1323 shows, a "group who were plotting to invoke the demon Berich from inside a circle made from strips of cat skin" were obviously participating in what the Church would define as "necromancy".


title: Necromancy

text: Herbert Stanley Redgrove claims necromancy as one of three chief branches of medieval ceremonial magic, alongside black magic and white magic. This does not correspond to contemporary classifications, which often conflate "nigromancy" ("black-knowledge") with "necromancy" ("death-knowledge").


title: Necromancy

text: In the wake of inconsistencies of judgment, necromancers and other practitioners of the magic arts were able to utilize spells featuring holy names with impunity, as any biblical references in such rituals could be construed as prayers rather than spells. As a consequence, the necromancy that appears in the "Munich Manual" is an evolution of these theoretical understandings. It has been suggested that the authors of the "Manual" knowingly designed the book to be in discord with ecclesiastical law. The main recipe employed throughout the "Manual" used the same religious language and names of power alongside demonic names. An understanding of the names of God derived from apocryphal texts and the Hebrew Torah required that the author of such rites have at least a casual familiarity with these sources.


title: Necromancy

text: Within the tales related in occult manuals are found connections with stories from other cultures' literary traditions. For instance, the ceremony for conjuring a horse closely relates to the Arabic "One Thousand and One Nights" and French romances; Chaucer's "The Squire's Tale" also bears marked similarities. This becomes a parallel evolution of spells to foreign gods or demons that were once acceptable, and frames them into a new Christian context, albeit demonic and forbidden. As the material for these manuals was apparently derived from scholarly magical and religious texts from a variety of sources in many languages, the scholars who studied these texts likely manufactured their own aggregate sourcebook and manual with which to work spells or magic.


title: Necromancy

text: In the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, it is stated that "Of all human opinions that is to be reputed the most foolish which deals with the belief in Necromancy, the sister of Alchemy, which gives birth to simple and natural things."


title: Necromancy

text: In the present day, necromancy is more generally used as a term to describe manipulation of death and the dead, or the pretense thereof, often facilitated through the use of ritual magic or some other kind of occult ceremony. Contemporary séances, channeling and Spiritualism verge on necromancy when supposedly invoked spirits are asked to reveal future events or secret information. Necromancy may also be presented as sciomancy, a branch of theurgic magic.


title: Necromancy

text: As to the practice of necromancy having endured in one form or another throughout the millennia, "An Encyclopædia of Occultism" states:


title: Geometry

text: Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is called a "geometer".


title: Geometry

text: Until the 19th century, geometry was almost exclusively devoted to Euclidean geometry, which includes the notions of point, line, plane, distance, angle, surface, and curve, as fundamental concepts.