title: Connor McDavid

text: McDavid was once again selected as the captain of the Pacific Division team at the 2022 NHL All-Star Game, where he was upset by Jordan Kyrou of the St. Louis Blues in the Fastest Skater competition. The Oilers recovered their form under Woodcroft, finishing the season in second place in the Pacific Division to qualify for the playoffs after posting the third-best points percentage in the league after the coaching change with a 26–9–3 record. McDavid finished the season with 44 goals and 123 points in 80 games to secure his fourth career Art Ross Trophy. This point total was eight points more than runner-up Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames and Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers, who both finished with 115 points. McDavid was again named a finalist for both the Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award.


title: Connor McDavid

text: The Oilers advanced in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs to meet the Los Angeles Kings, seen as favourites to advance beyond the first round for only the second time in McDavid's career. The Kings proved a greater challenge than many had expected, and after five games led the series 3–2. With the Oilers facing elimination in Game 6 in Los Angeles, McDavid led the team to victory, posting a goal and two assists in a game-leading 24:02 minutes of ice time to force Game 7. Two days later, McDavid had a primary assist on Cody Ceci's game-winning goal, before burying a backhand shot in the final minutes to secure a 2–0 Oilers win and clinch the series. McDavid's 4 goals and 10 assists led the league in the first round of the playoffs, and he became only the second player in history to record six multi-point games in a single playoff series. The Oilers drew the Calgary Flames in the second round, the first playoff "Battle of Alberta" in 31 years. With two goals and four assists in the first two games of the second round, McDavid hit 20 career playoff points in the fewest games of any player in 30 years. McDavid scored the series-clinching goal in overtime in Game 5 to send the Oilers to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2006. The Oilers were ultimately defeated by the Colorado Avalanche in four games, bringing his postseason to an end. With 10 goals and 23 assists, he led all players in scoring in the 2022 playoffs. He became the first player since Peter Forsberg in 2002 to be first in scoring without playing in the final round.


title: Connor McDavid

text: During the Oilers' 2022–23 season opener against the Vancouver Canucks, McDavid scored a hat-trick and increased his total career points to 700. This made him the sixth-fastest player to reach the milestone, and the fastest player since the 1980's.


title: Connor McDavid

text: McDavid's international ice hockey career began with the 2013 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, where he led the sixth-place Team Ontario with nine points in five games, including two goals and an assist in their 7–6 tournament-ending loss to Team Pacific. Despite his team's disappointing performance, McDavid was named to the tournament all-star team. The next year, a 16-year-old McDavid was the youngest player in the 2013 IIHF World U18 Championships in Sochi. Playing for the Canada men's national under-18 ice hockey team, he skated on a line with Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett, recording two goals and two assists in Canada's 4–1 opening-round win over Slovakia. He led the tournament in scoring with eight goals and 14 assists, including a hat-trick during Canada's 6–0 quarterfinal win over the Czech Republic. Canada defeated the United States team 3–2 in the gold medal match, breaking Team USA's four-year championship streak, and McDavid was named both the Best Forward and Tournament MVP after the win.


title: Connor McDavid

text: In 2014, McDavid became the sixth 16-year-old in history to join the Canadian junior team for that year's World Junior Ice Hockey Championship. Although McDavid recorded a goal and three assists in the tournament, he went pointless in the last three games and spent most of the bronze medal match, in which Canada fell 2–1 to Russia, on the bench. He rejoined the team for the 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Canada, serving as an alternate captain and as the only 17-year-old on a team that was otherwise 19 years of age. Canada took the gold medal in the tournament, defeating Russia 5–4 in the championship match, and McDavid's 11 points (three goals and eight assists) tied Sam Reinhart and Nic Petan for first in the tournament. He was named to the media all-star team at the end of the championships.


title: Connor McDavid

text: McDavid first joined the Canadian senior team for the 2016 IIHF World Championship in Russia. Although he had eight assists in the tournament, McDavid did not score a goal until the gold-medal match against Finland, who the Canadians shut out 2–0 to win the tournament. McDavid's was the only goal of the game until the final second, when Matt Duchene scored in an empty net. That same year, McDavid was named captain of Team North America, a team of Canadian and United States players aged 23 or under, at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Centreing a line with Auston Matthews and Mark Scheifele, McDavid had three assists in six games during the pre-tournament and round robin stages of the World Cup. Team North America was eliminated after the round-robin portion of the tournament, with Russia winning the tiebreaker. Two years later, McDavid was named captain of Team Canada at the 2018 IIHF World Championship in Denmark, where he recorded five goals and 13 points through the opening rounds of the tournament. With a 4–1 loss to the United States team in the bronze medal game, Canada finished the World Championship without a medal for the first time since 2014. McDavid, who was joined by Oilers teammates Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Darnell Nurse, finished the tournament third in scoring with five goals and 17 points in 10 games. McDavid intended to play for Canada again at the 2019 IIHF World Championship, but suffered a leg injury at the end of the NHL season that kept him from participating.


title: Connor McDavid

text: McDavid was one of the first three players named to the Canadian roster for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, joining Sidney Crosby and Alex Pietrangelo. In December 2021, however, the NHL declared that no players would be allowed to participate in the Olympic Games, citing COVID-19 outbreaks throughout the league. McDavid, who had already missed a chance to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics due to financial concerns from the NHL, was upset with the league's decision, saying, "It's always been a dream of mine to play at the Olympics since I was a little kid. So to have that kind of squashed as we were getting close was disappointing."


title: Connor McDavid

text: Nicknamed ‘McJesus’, McDavid is considered by fellow players, fans, and sportswriters to be one of the best players in the modern era of the NHL, with frequent comparisons to both Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky. Responding to a 2017 survey from the Associated Press, defenceman Seth Jones described McDavid as "what Crosby was when he was 20", while Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask said that McDavid "just skates and he stickhandles and it's something I've never seen before as a goalie". Between 2016 and 2021, McDavid ranked first in TSN Hockey's preseason fan poll of the top 50 players in the NHL. The NHLPA also voted McDavid the best forward in the league in both 2019 and 2020. In 2021, McDavid joined Gretzky as the only players to unanimously win the Hart Memorial Trophy, as voted by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.


title: Connor McDavid

text: Through his first five seasons in the NHL, McDavid's 1.34 points per game have been on par with Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. When asked by ESPN in 2016 what made McDavid such a strong player, several, including Auston Matthews, Ryan Getzlaf, Joe Thornton, and Brendan Gallagher, mentioned his speed on the ice. John Tavares praised McDavid's adaptability, while defenceman Cam Fowler said, "I don't think there's a specific way to shut him down." In 2021, Gretzky praised McDavid's increased maturity and physicality compared to previous seasons, saying, "His body language is that he doesn't want to lose, and it's infectious through the hockey club." Despite the praise for the offensive aspects of his game, McDavid has received criticism from sports journalists for his defensive elements, particularly his high rate of turning over the puck to his opponents while in the Oilers' defensive zone.


title: Connor McDavid

text: McDavid and his girlfriend, interior designer Lauren Kyle, designed their Edmonton house. After displaying pictures of the house for "EDify" magazine in 2020 and recording a video tour in 2021 for "Architectural Digest", the minimalist design and the poor view of the Edmonton River Valley outside became an Internet meme.


title: Connor McDavid

text: As a sports fan in Ontario, McDavid was a dedicated childhood fan of Mats Sundin and the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL team. He described his childhood bedroom as "pretty embarrassing" for its volume of Maple Leafs memorabilia. Outside of hockey, he supports the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball and threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Blue Jays game in 2016.


title: Connor McDavid

text: On June 21, 2017, Electronic Arts revealed that McDavid would be the cover athlete for "NHL 18", their annual instalment of the "NHL" video game series. Additionally, McDavid's unique skating style inspired the Real Player Motion technology used in "NHL 19", in which player size and other attributes affect their skating speed and power. In 2022, McDavid was one of several Canadian athletes to appear on boxes of Cheerios cereal as part of their "Be the Cheer" promotion, in which customers could write personalized messages to athletes competing at the Olympic Games. That same year, McDavid became the first active professional athlete to serve as a brand ambassador for sports betting company BetMGM.


title: Connor McDavid

text: McDavid is involved in charitable efforts with Edmonton's indigenous community and has raised $85,000 to help indigenous children play sports. He is also involved in a shuttle program to help sick kids.


title: Tuva

text: Tuva (; ) or Tyva (), officially the Republic of Tuva (; ), is a federal subject of Russia (a republic, also defined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation as a state).


title: Tuva

text: The Tuvan Republic lies at the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and Mongolia to the south. Tuva has a population of 307,930 (2010 census). Its capital is the city of Kyzyl.


title: Tuva

text: From 1921 to 1944, Tuva constituted a sovereign, independent, but partially recognized nation, acknowledged only by its neighbors the Soviet Union and Mongolia. It was known officially as Tannu Tuva until 1926 and thereafter as the Tuvan People's Republic. A majority of the population are ethnic Tuvans who speak Tuvan as their native tongue, while Russian is spoken natively by the Russian minority; both are official and widely understood in the republic. Tuva is governed by the Great Khural, which elects a chairman to four-year terms.


title: Tuva

text: The territory of Tuva has been controlled by the Xiongnu Empire (209 BC93 AD) and the Xianbei state (93–234), Rouran Khaganate (330–555), the Yenisei Kyrgyz (7th13th century), Mongol Empire (1206–1271), Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), Northern Yuan dynasty (1368–1691), Khotgoid Khanate and Zunghar Khanate (1634–1758). Medieval Mongol tribes, including Oirats and Tumeds, inhabited areas which are now part of the Tuvan Republic.


title: Tuva

text: From 1758 to 1911, Tuva was part of China's Qing dynasty and administered by Outer Mongolia. During the Xinhai Revolution in China, Tsarist Russia formed a separatist movement among the Tuvans while there were also pro-independence and pro-Mongol groups. Tsar Nicholas II agreed to the third petition by Tuva's leadership in 1912, establishing a protectorate over the then-independent state. Some Russians, such as merchants, travellers, and explorers, had already settled in Tuva at that time. Tuva became nominally independent as the "Uryankhay Republic" before being turned into a Russian protectorate as "Uryankhay Krai" under Tsar Nicholas II, on 17 April 1914.


title: Tuva

text: A Tuvan capital was established, called Belotsarsk (Белоца́рск; literally, "(Town) of the White Tsar"). Meanwhile, in 1911, Mongolia became independent, though under Russian protection. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917 that ended the imperial autocracy, most of Tuva was occupied from 5 July 1918 to 15 July 1919 by Alexander Kolchak's White Russian troops. Pyotr Ivanovich Turchaninov was named governor of the territory. In the autumn of 1918, the southwestern part was occupied by Chinese troops and the southern part by Mongol troops led by Khatanbaatar Magsarjav.


title: Tuva

text: From July 1919 to February 1920, the communist Red Army controlled Tuva but from 19 February 1920 to June 1921 it was occupied by China (governor was Yan Shichao [traditional, Wade–Giles transliteration: Yan Shi-ch'ao]). On 14 August 1921, the Bolsheviks established the Tuvan People's Republic, popularly called "Tannu-Tuva". In 1926, the capital (Belotsarsk; Khem-Beldyr since 1918) was renamed Kyzyl, meaning "red". The Tuvan People's Republic was de jure an independent state between the World Wars. The state's ruler, Chairman Donduk Kuular, sought to strengthen ties with Mongolia and establish Buddhism as the state religion. This unsettled the Soviet Union, which orchestrated a coup carried out in 1929 by five young Tuvan graduates of Moscow's Communist University of the Toilers of the East.


title: Tuva

text: In 1930, the pro-Soviet regime discarded the state's Mongol script in favor of a Latin alphabet designed for Tuva by Russian linguists. In 1943, Cyrillic script replaced Latin. Under the leadership of Party Secretary Salchak Toka, ethnic Russians were granted full citizenship rights and Buddhist and Mongol influences on the Tuvan state and society were systematically curtailed.


title: Tuva

text: Tuva was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1944, with the approval of Tuva's Little Khural (parliament), but without a referendum on the issue. It became the Tuvan Autonomous Oblast, within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, after the Soviet victory in World War II. Salchak Toka, leader of the Tuvan People's Revolutionary Party, was given the title of First Secretary of the Tuvan Communist Party and became the de facto ruler of Tuva until his death in 1973. The territory became the Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on 10 October 1961.


title: Tuva

text: In February 1990, the Tuvan Democratic Movement was founded by Kaadyr-ool Bicheldei, a philologist at the Kyzyl State Pedagogical Institute. The party aimed to provide jobs and housing (both in short supply), and improve the status of the Tuvan language and culture. Later in the year, there was a wave of attacks against Tuva's sizeable Russian community, including sniper attacks on trucks, and attacks on outlying settlements, with 168 murdered. Russian troops were eventually called in. Many Russians moved out of the republic during this period. Tuva has remained remote and difficult to access.


title: Tuva

text: Tuva was a signatory to the 31 March 1992 treaty that created the Russian Federation. On 22 October 1993, a new constitution was drawn up for the republic, creating a 32-member parliament (Supreme Khural) and a Grand Khural, which deals with local legislation. The constitution was approved by 53.9% (62.2% according to another source) of Tuvans in a referendum on 12 December 1993. At the same time, the official name was changed from "Tuva" (Тува) to "Tyva" (Тыва).


title: Tuva

text: Soldiers from Tuva participate in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Women protested against mobilization in Kyzyl, 20 of them were arrested.


title: Tuva

text: The Tyva Republic is situated in the far south of Siberia. Its capital city is Kyzyl, located near the geographic "center of Asia". The eastern part of the republic is forested and elevated, while the western part is a drier lowland.


title: Tuva

text: There are over 8,000 rivers in the Tyvan Republic, including the upper course of the Yenisei River, the fifth longest river in the world. Most of the republic's rivers are Yenisei tributaries. There are also numerous mineral springs in the area.


title: Tuva

text: There are numerous lakes in Tuva, many of which are glacial and salt lakes, including Todzha Lake, a.k.a. Azas Lake (100 km) – the largest in the republic, and Uvs Lake (shared with Mongolia and a World Heritage Site).


title: Tuva

text: The Tyva Republic is made up of a mountain basin, about 600 m high, encircled by the Sayan and Tannu-Ola mountain ranges. Mountains and hills cover over 80% of its territory. Mongun-Tayga ("Silver Mountain", 3,970 m) is the highest point in the republic and is named after its glacier.


title: Tuva

text: According to the 2010 Census, Tuvans make up 82.0% of the republic's population. Other groups include Russians (16.3%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population.


title: Tuva

text: As can be seen above, during the period 1959–2010 there has been more than a doubling of ethnic Tuvans. The Russian population growth slowed by the 1980s and decreased by 50% since 1989. The official languages are Tuvan (Turkic) and Russian (Slavic).


title: Tuva

text: Outside Kyzyl, settlements have few if any Russian inhabitants and, in general, Tuvans use their original language as their first language. However, there is a small population of Old Believers in the Republic scattered in some of the most isolated areas. Before Soviet rule, there were a number of large ethnic Russian Old Believer villages, but as the atheist ideology crept in, the believers moved deeper and deeper into the taiga in order to avoid contact with outsiders. Major Old Believer villages are Erzhei, Uzhep, Unzhei, Zhivei and Bolee Malkiye (all in the Kaa-Khemsky District). Smaller ultra-Orthodox settlements are found further upstream.


title: Tuva

text: Ethnic Russians make up 34.3% of the population (as of 2010 Census) in Kaa-Khemsky District, one of the most remote regions in Tuva. The population is mostly Old Believers. Russians account for 29.1% of the population in Piy-Khemsky and 28.4% in Kyzyl.


title: Tuva

text: Two religions are widespread among the Tuvan people: Tibetan Buddhism and shamanism. Tibetan Buddhism's present-day spiritual leader is Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama. In September 1992, Tenzin Gyatso visited Tuva for three days. On September 20, he blessed and consecrated the yellow-blue-white flag of Tuva, which had been officially adopted three days before.


title: Tuva

text: The Tuvan people – along with the Yellow Uyghurs in China – are one of the only two Turkic groups who are primarily adherents to Tibetan Buddhism, which coexists with native shamanistic traditions.


title: Tuva

text: Tuvans were first exposed to Buddhism during the 13th and 14th centuries, when Tuva entered into the composition of the Mongol Empire. The earliest Buddhist temples uncovered by archaeologists in the territory of Tuva date to the 13th and 14th centuries. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Tibetan Buddhism gained popularity in Tuva. An increasing number of new and restored temples are coming into use, and there has been an upward trend in the number of novices being trained as monks and lamas in recent years. Religious practice declined under the restrictive policies of the Soviet period, but is now flourishing.


title: Tuva

text: According to a 2012 survey, 61.8% of the population of Tuva adheres to Buddhism, 8% to Tengrism or Tuvan shamanism, 1.5% to the Russian Orthodox Church, the Old Believers or other forms of Christianity, 1% to Protestantism. In addition, 7.7% follow other religions or did not give an answer to the survey. 8% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious" and 12% to be atheist.


title: Tuva

text: The present flag of Tuva – yellow for prosperity, blue for courage and strength, white for purity – was adopted on 17 September 1992. The Republic's Constitution was adopted on 23 October 1993.


title: Tuva

text: The head of the government in Tuva is the Chairman of the Government, who is elected for a four-year term. The first Chairman of the Government was Sherig-ool Oorzhak. On 3 April 2007, Russian president Vladimir Putin nominated Sholban Kara-ool, 40, a former champion wrestler, as the Chairman of the Government of Tuva. Kara-ool's candidacy was approved by the Khural on 9 April 2007. Kara-ool served from 2007 until 2021. The third and current Tuvan head of government is Vladislav Khovalyg.


title: Tuva

text: Tuva's legislature, the Great Khural, has 162 seats; each deputy is elected to serve a four-year term.


title: Tuva

text: Tuva does not have a railway, although famous postage stamps in the 1930s, designed in Moscow during the time of Tuvan independence, mistakenly depict locomotives as demonstrating Soviet-inspired progress there.


title: Tuva

text: Traditionally, the Tuvan people are a Central Asian yurt-dwelling nomadic culture, with distinctive traditions in music, cuisine, and folk art. Tuvan music features Tuvan throat singing (khoomei), in which the singer sings a fundamental tone and an overtone simultaneously. This type of singing can be heard during performances by the Tuvan National Orchestra, at events such as the 'International Khoomei Day' held at the National Tuvinian Theatre in Kyzyl.


title: Tuva

text: The Tuvan craft tradition includes carving the soft stone, agalmatolite. A frequent motif is hand-held-sized animals, such as horses.


title: Tuva

text: Important archaeological excavations in Tuva include Arzhaan-1 and Tunnug 1, dating to the ninth century BC. and Arzhaan-2, where Scythian animal art in great variety, and over 9,000 decorative gold pieces were unearthed.


title: Tuva

text: Festivals celebrating Tuvan traditions include the ecological film festival "The Living Path of Dersu", the Interregional Festival of National Cultures "Heart of Asia". It has become a tradition to hold the international festival of live music "Ustuu-Khuree", the International Symposium "Khoomei – the Phenomenon of the Culture of the Peoples of Central Asia", the Regional Competition-Festival of Performers on National Instruments "Dingildai", the International Felt Festival "Patterns of Life on Felt" Pop songs "Melodies of the Sayan Mountains".


title: Tuva

text: Tuva is one of the few places in the world where the original form of shamanism is preserved as part of the traditional culture of Tuva. Shamanism presupposes the existence of good and evil spirits inhabiting mountains, forests and water, as well as the heavens and the underworld. The mediator between man and the spirits is the shaman. It is believed that with the help of spirits the shaman is able to cure patients and predict the future.


title: Tuva

text: In Tuva, shamanism peacefully coexists with Buddhism. Buddhism is associated with many folk rituals, calendar holidays, and folk medicines in Tuva. Centers of Buddhism in Tuva are Khuree – temples, temple complexes; the temple complex Tsechenling in Kyzyl is the residence of Khambo Lama, head of Buddhism in Tuva. Treasures of the old Slavonic culture in the Asian Tuva saved along with the values of other peoples – children's folklore ensemble "Oktay" from the city of Kyzyl in the course several ethnographic expeditions in the old believers ' settlements were able to collect an extensive collection of samples of ancient singing art.


title: Tuva

text: Bandy, a sport similar to ice hockey, is played in Tuva. Mongolian-style wrestling is very popular, as are most martial arts. Horse riding related sports are also predominant in the area.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the US Army Air Forces. Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was one of the most popular and successful bands of the 20th century and the big band era. His military group, the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra, was also popular and successful.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was the best-selling recording band from 1939 to 1942. It did not have a string section, but did have a slap bass in the rhythm section. It was also a touring band that played multiple radio broadcasts nearly every day. Their best-selling records include Miller's iconic theme song"Moonlight Serenade"and the first gold record ever made, "Chattanooga Choo Choo". The following tunes are also on that best-seller list: "In the Mood", "PEnnsylvania 6-5000" (printed as "Pennsylvania Six-Five Thousand" on record labels), "A String of Pearls", "Moonlight Cocktail", "At Last", "(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo", "American Patrol", "Tuxedo Junction", "Elmer's Tune", "Little Brown Jug", and "Anvil Chorus". Including "Chattanooga Choo Choo", five songs played by Miller and His Orchestra were number one hits for most of 1942 and can be found on the List of "Billboard" number-one singles of 1942. In four years, Miller scored 16 number one records and 69 top 10 hits, more than Elvis Presley (40) and the Beatles in their careers. His musical legacy includes multiple recordings in the Grammy Hall of Fame. His work has been performed by swing bands, jazz bands and big bands worldwide for over 75 years.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller is considered to be the father of the modern US military bands. In 1942, he volunteered to join the US military to entertain troops during World War II and ended up in the US Army Air Forces. Their workload was just as heavy as the civilian band's had been. With a full string section added to a big band, the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra was the forerunner of many US military big bands.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller went missing in action (MIA) on December 15, 1944, on a flight over the English Channel. Standard Operating Procedure for the US military services, Miller was officially declared dead a year and a day later. An official Army investigation led to an official finding of death Miller, Norman Baessell and John Morgan who died on the same flight. All three officers are listed on the Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in Cambridge, England. Since his body was not recoverable, Miller was allowed to have a memorial headstone placed at the US Army-operated Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. In February 1945, he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal.


title: Glenn Miller

text: The son of Mattie Lou (née Cavender) Miller and Lewis Elmer Miller, Alton Glen Miller was born in Clarinda, Iowa. He added the second n to "Glenn" during high school. Like his father (Lewis Elmer) and his siblings (Elmer Deane, John Herbert and Emma Irene), Miller went by his middle name, Glenn. As Dennis Spragg of the Glenn Miller Archives confirms, "Miller's use of his first name, Alton was necessary for legal and military purposes, which is logically why it shows up in formal documents such as his military documents, driver’s licenses, tax returns, etc." He is listed as Alton G. Miller in the Army Air Forces section of the Tablets of the Missing in Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in Cambridge, England. His name is engraved as Major Alton Glenn Miller, US Army (Air Corps) on his Government-issued (G.I.) memorial headstone in Memorial Section H at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. His last military unit has a memorial tree in section 13 on Wilson Drive. The American Holly was dedicated on December 15, 1994, the 50th anniversary of Miller's death, for the veterans of the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra.


title: Glenn Miller

text: He attended grade school in North Platte in western Nebraska. In 1915, his family moved to Grant City, Missouri. Around this time, he had made enough money from milking cows to buy his first trombone and played in the town orchestra. He played cornet and mandolin, but he switched to trombone by 1916.


title: Glenn Miller

text: In 1918, Miller and his family moved to Fort Morgan, Colorado, where he went to Fort Morgan High School. In the fall of 1919, he joined the F.M.H.S. Maroons, the high school football team that won the Northern Colorado American Football Conference in 1920. He was named Best Left End in Colorado in 1921. For two years, Miller was one of the editors of his own high school yearbook, "Memories". In each of the yearbooks he edited, his name was spelled both Glen with one n, and Glenn with a double n.


title: Glenn Miller

text: During his senior year, he became so interested in dance band music that he formed a band with some classmates. The high school orchestra was an after school activity, but he played there too. For a time, classes in harmony, piano, violin, and music appreciation were full, but classes were discontinued. However, by the time he graduated from high school in 1921, he had decided to become a professional musician. He missed his own graduation because he was performing out of town. His mother gladly received his diploma for him.


title: Glenn Miller

text: In 1923, Miller entered the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he joined Sigma Nu fraternity. He spent most of his time away from school, attending auditions and playing any gigs he could get, including with Boyd Senter's band in Denver. After failing three out of five classes, he dropped out of school to pursue a career in music. Ironically, he failed Harmony.


title: Glenn Miller

text: In New York City, he studied the Schillinger system with Joseph Schillinger, under whose tutelage he composed "Miller's Tune". Miller arranged that tune for big band and renamed it. It became his signature theme, "Moonlight Serenade".


title: Glenn Miller

text: In 1926, Miller toured with several groups, landing a good spot in Ben Pollack's group in Los Angeles. He also played for Victor Young, which allowed him to be mentored by other professional musicians. In the beginning, he was the main trombone soloist of the band, but when Jack Teagarden joined Pollack's band in 1928, Miller found that his solos were cut drastically. He realized that his future was in arranging and composing.


title: Glenn Miller

text: He had a songbook published in Chicago in 1928 entitled "125 Jazz Breaks for Trombone" by the Melrose Brothers. During his time with Pollack, he wrote several arrangements. He wrote his first composition, "Room 1411", with Benny Goodman, and Brunswick Records released it as a 78 rpm record under the name "Benny Goodman's Boys".


title: Glenn Miller

text: In 1928, when the band arrived in New York City, he sent for and married his college sweetheart, Helen Burger. He was a member of Red Nichols' orchestra (Red Nichols and his Five Pennies) in 1930, and because of Nichols, he played in the pit bands of two Broadway shows, "Strike Up the Band" and "Girl Crazy". That band included Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa.


title: Glenn Miller

text: During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Miller worked as a freelance trombonist in several bands. On a March 21, 1928, Victor Records session, he played alongside Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Joe Venuti in the All-Star Orchestra directed by Nat Shilkret. He arranged and played trombone on several significant Dorsey brothers sessions for OKeh Records, including "The Spell of the Blues", "Let's Do It", and "My Kinda Love", all with Bing Crosby on vocals. On November 14, 1929, vocalist Red McKenzie hired Miller to play on two records: "Hello, Lola" and "If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight". Beside Miller were saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, clarinetist Pee Wee Russell, guitarist Eddie Condon, and drummer Gene Krupa.


title: Glenn Miller

text: In the early to mid-1930s, Miller worked as a trombonist, arranger, and composer for the Dorsey Brothers, first, when they were a Brunswick studio group and later, when they formed an ill-fated orchestra. Miller composed the songs "Annie's Cousin Fanny", "Dese Dem Dose", "Harlem Chapel Chimes", and "Tomorrow's Another Day" for the Dorsey Brothers Band in 1934 and 1935.


title: Glenn Miller

text: In 1935, he assembled an American orchestra for British bandleader Ray Noble, developing the arrangement of lead clarinet over four saxophones that became a characteristic of his big band. Members of the Noble band included Claude Thornhill, Bud Freeman, and Charlie Spivak.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller made his first movie appearance in "The Big Broadcast of 1936" as a member of the Ray Noble Orchestra performing "Why Stars Come Out at Night". The film included performances by Dorothy Dandridge and the Nicholas Brothers, who would appear with Miller again in two movies for Twentieth Century Fox in 1941 and 1942.


title: Glenn Miller

text: In 1937, Miller compiled several arrangements and formed his first band. After failing to distinguish itself from the many bands of the time, it broke up after its last show at the Ritz Ballroom in Bridgeport, Connecticut on January 2, 1938.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Discouraged, Miller returned to New York. He realized that he needed to develop a unique sound and decided to make the clarinet play a melodic line with a tenor saxophone holding the same note, while three other saxophones harmonized within a single octave. George T. Simon discovered a saxophonist named Wilbur Schwartz. Miller hired Schwartz but had him play lead clarinet instead of the saxophone. According to Simon, "Willie's tone and way of playing provided a fullness and richness so distinctive that none of the later Miller imitators could ever accurately reproduce the Miller sound." With this new sound combination, Miller found a way to differentiate his band's style from that of many bands that existed in the late 1930s.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller talked about his style in the May 1939 issue of "Metronome" magazine. "You'll notice today some bands use the same trick on every introduction; others repeat the same musical phrase as a modulation into a vocal ... We're fortunate in that our style doesn't limit us to stereotyped intros, modulations, first choruses, endings, or even trick rhythms. The fifth sax, playing the clarinet most of the time, lets you know whose band you're listening to. And that's about all there is to it."


title: Glenn Miller

text: In September 1938, the Miller band began recording for Bluebird, a subsidiary of RCA Victor. Cy Shribman, a prominent East Coast businessman, financed the band. In the spring of 1939, the band's fortunes improved with a date at the Meadowbrook Ballroom in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, and more dramatically at the Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, New York. According to author Gunther Schuller, the Glen Island performance attracted "a record-breaking opening-night crowd of 1800..."


title: Glenn Miller

text: The band's popularity grew. In 1939, "Time" magazine noted: "Of the 12 to 24 discs in each of today's 300,000 U.S. jukeboxes, from two to six are usually Glenn Miller's." In 1940, the band's version of "Tuxedo Junction" sold 115,000 copies in the first week. Miller's success in 1939 culminated with an appearance at Carnegie Hall on October 6, with Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, and Fred Waring also on the schedule.


title: Glenn Miller

text: From December 1939 to September 1942, Miller's band performed three times a week during a quarter-hour broadcast for Chesterfield cigarettes on CBS radio—for the first 13 weeks with the Andrews Sisters and then on its own.


title: Glenn Miller

text: On February 10, 1942, RCA Victor presented Miller with the first gold record for "Chattanooga Choo Choo". The Miller orchestra performed "Chattanooga Choo Choo" with his singers Gordon "Tex" Beneke, Paula Kelly and the Modernaires. Other singers with this orchestra included Marion Hutton, Skip Nelson, Ray Eberle and (to a smaller extent) Kay Starr, Ernie Caceres, Dorothy Claire and Jack Lathrop. Pat Friday dubbed for Lynn Bari by singing her part in the Glenn Miller Orchestra in their two films, "Sun Valley Serenade" and "Orchestra Wives", with Lynn Bari lip-synching.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller and his band appeared in two Twentieth Century Fox films. In 1941's "Sun Valley Serenade" they were major members of the cast, which also featured comedian Milton Berle, and Dorothy Dandridge with the Nicholas Brothers in the show-stopping song-and-dance number, "Chattanooga Choo Choo". The Miller band returned to Hollywood to film 1942's "Orchestra Wives", featuring Jackie Gleason playing a part as the group's bassist. Though contracted to do a third movie for Fox, "Blind Date", Miller entered the US Army and this film was never made.


title: Glenn Miller

text: In 2004, Miller orchestra bassist Trigger Alpert explained the band's success: "Miller had America's music pulse... He knew what would please the listeners." Although Miller was popular, many jazz critics had misgivings. They believed that the band's endless rehearsals—and, according to critic Amy Lee in "Metronome" magazine, "letter-perfect playing"—removed feeling from their performances. They also felt that Miller's brand of swing shifted popular music from the hot jazz of Benny Goodman and Count Basie to commercial novelty instrumentals and vocal numbers. After Miller died, the Miller estate maintained an unfriendly stance toward critics who derided the band during his lifetime.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller was often criticized for being too commercial. His answer was, "I don't want a jazz band." Many modern jazz critics harbor similar antipathy. In 1997, on a website administered by "JazzTimes" magazine, Doug Ramsey considers him overrated. "Miller discovered a popular formula from which he allowed little departure. A disproportionate ratio of nostalgia to substance keeps his music alive."


title: Glenn Miller

text: Jazz critics Gunther Schuller (1991) and Gary Giddins (2004) have defended Miller from criticism. In an article written for "The New Yorker" magazine in 2004, Giddins said these critics erred in denigrating Miller's music, and that the popular opinion of the time should hold greater sway. "Miller exuded little warmth on or off the bandstand, but once the band struck up its theme, audiences were done for: throats clutched, eyes softened. Can any other record match 'Moonlight Serenade' for its ability to induce a Pavlovian slaver in so many for so long?" Schuller notes, "[The Miller sound] was nevertheless very special and able to penetrate our collective awareness that few other sounds have..." He compares it to "Japanese Gagaku [and] Hindu music" in its purity. Schuller and Giddins do not take completely uncritical approaches to Miller. Schuller says that Ray Eberle's "lumpy, sexless vocalizing dragged down many an otherwise passable performance." But Schuller notes, "How much further [Miller's] musical and financial ambitions might have carried him must forever remain conjectural. That it would have been significant, whatever form(s) it might have taken, is not unlikely."


title: Glenn Miller

text: Louis Armstrong thought enough of Miller to carry around his recordings, transferred to seven-inch tape reels when he went on tour. "[Armstrong] liked musicians who prized melody, and his selections ranged from Glenn Miller to Jelly Roll Morton to Tchaikovsky." Jazz pianist George Shearing's quintet of the 1950s and 1960s was influenced by Miller: "with Shearing's locked hands style piano (influenced by the voicing of Miller's saxophone section) in the middle [of the quintet's harmonies]". Frank Sinatra and Mel Tormé held the orchestra in high regard. Tormé credited Miller with giving him helpful advice when he first started his singing and songwriting career in the 1940s. Tormé met Miller in 1942, the meeting facilitated by Tormé's father and Ben Pollack. Tormé and Miller discussed "That Old Black Magic", which was just emerging as a new song by Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen. Miller told Tormé to pick up every song by Mercer and study it and to become a voracious reader of anything he could find, because "all good lyric writers are great readers." In an interview with George T. Simon in 1948, Sinatra lamented the inferior quality of music he was recording in the late '40s, in comparison with "those great Glenn Miller things" from eight years earlier. Frank Sinatra's recording sessions from the late '40s and early '50s use some Miller musicians. Trigger Alpert, a bassist from the civilian band, Zeke Zarchy for the Army Air Forces Orchestra and Willie Schwartz, the lead clarinetist from the civilian band back up Frank Sinatra on many recordings.


title: Glenn Miller

text: It was a surprise that clarinetist Buddy DeFranco took on the job of leading the Glenn Miller Orchestra in the late '60s and early '70s. De Franco was already a veteran of bands like Gene Krupa and Tommy Dorsey in the '40s. He was also a major exponent of modern jazz in the '50s. He never saw Miller as leading a swinging jazz band, but DeFranco is extremely fond of certain aspects of the Glenn Miller style. "I found that when I opened with 'Moonlight Serenade', I could see men and women weeping as the music carried them back to years gone by." De Franco says, "the beauty of Glenn Miller's ballads ... caused people to dance together."


title: Glenn Miller

text: At the peak of his civilian career in 1942, Miller decided to join the armed forces, which meant forsaking an income of about $20,000 per week with his civilian band, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra (equivalent to $330,000 per week in 2022). At 38, married and needing corrective eyeglasses, Miller was classified 3-A for the draft and unlikely to be called to service.


title: Glenn Miller

text: He first applied for a commission in the US Navy but was turned down. At the time, the Navy was dealing with a scandal concerning celebrity commissions in exchange for draft avoidance. This had nothing to do with Miller but prevented the Navy from acting on his application. (p. 25-26).


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller then applied to the US Army with whom he had privately explored the possibility of enlisting. During a March 1942 visit to Washington, Miller had met with officials of the Army Bureau of Public Relations and Army Air Forces.(p. 24) On August 12, 1942, Miller sent a three-page letter to General Charles Young of the Army Service Forces, outlining his interest in “streamlining modern military music” and to express his “sincere desire to do a real job for the Army that is not actuated by any personal draft problem. General Young forwarded Miller’s letter to Gen. Brehon Somervell, commander of Army Service Forces who approved Miller’s application. The Army notified Miller of his commission on September 8, 1942. He received a one-month delay to settle his business affairs.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller made his final commercial broadcast for Chesterfield Cigarettes on September 24, 1942. At the end of the program, he introduced competitor Harry James as his successor on the series, a gesture that a grateful Harry James never forgot. On September 26, Miller made his final civilian broadcast on the Blue Network Coca Cola Victory parade of Spotlight Bands. (pp.28-33) Glenn Miller and his Orchestra gave their final performance at Central Theater in Passaic, New Jersey on September 27, 1942.


title: Glenn Miller

text: On October 7, 1942, Miller reported to the Seventh Service Command at Omaha as a captain in the Army Specialist Corps. Following a one-month ASC training course at Fort Meade, Maryland, he transferred to the Army Air Forces (AAF) on November 25, 1942, by order of General Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold. Miller was initially assigned to the AAF Southeast Flying Training Command at Maxwell Field, Alabama for orientation as assistant special service officer, traveling to different AAF training bases in the region to learn the mission of the training command. There, he appeared on the nationwide NBC “Army Hour” broadcast, originated from WSFA, Montgomery. He also appeared over WAPI radio Birmingham, performing with the Rhythmaires, a 15-piece base band. (pp. 34–36)


title: Glenn Miller

text: Effective January 1, 1943, Miller was assigned to the headquarters of the AAF Technical Training Command (TTC) at Knollwood Field, Southern Pines, North Carolina. Reporting to Gen. Walter R. Weaver, Miller became director of bands for the AAFTTC. Miller’s recommendation for an AAFTTC bands program was approved. Detached to the AAF Training Center at Atlantic City, New Jersey, Miller screened personnel for assignment to various AAF base bands across the nation and recruited many for an elite unit that he would direct himself. The AAF had established its First Radio Production Unit and Orchestra to broadcast from Hollywood, commanded by Maj. Eddie Dunstedter with musical director M/Sgt. Felix Slatkin. Miller would form and direct the Second AAF Radio Production Unit and Orchestra, broadcasting and recording from New York. Miller’s unit was authorized on March 20, 1943 and billeted at the AAF Training School at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. Its personnel were a talented mix of jazz musicians from major big bands and musicians from leading symphony orchestras. Miller would successfully attempt to fuse jazz, popular music and light classics, including strings, which was an evolutionary step beyond his civilian band. (pp. 42–48)


title: Glenn Miller

text: Broadcasting and recording from New York, the Miller unit broadcast “I Sustain the Wings.” This weekly series was first carried by CBS starting on June 5, 1943 and then by NBC from September 18, 1943 through June 10, 1944. Miller’s unit was succeeded on the series by the AAFTC orchestra directed by M/Sgt. Harry Bluestone, when the Miller band deployed overseas. The Miller unit resumed the series when they returned from the European Theater in August 1945. The Miller unit also recorded V-Discs at RCA Victor studios, and recorded broadcasts for the Office of War Information and Armed Forces Radio Service, including “Music from America” and “Uncle Sam Presents." (pp. 49–50)


title: Glenn Miller

text: In addition to the full concert orchestra, Miller's AAF Training Command organization included a marching band for base activities and a jazz band led by T/Sgt. Ray McKinley, the popular civilian bandleader and drummer. Initially designated the 418th AAF Band, Miller’s unit was redesignated the Second AAF Radio Production Unit on December 6, 1943. At that time, base band duties transferred to the 708th AAF Band, a unit of standby musicians separate from the radio orchestra. Miller’s marching band became famous by using jeeps with drums and string bass aboard for public performances. Miller also famously got into a musical argument with Army purists by performing marching arrangements of jazz, including “The Saint Louis Blues” and “Blues in the Night,” as opposed to traditional Sousa military marches. The AAF endorsed Miller’s modern approach. (pp. 51–52)


title: Glenn Miller

text: On May 24, 1944, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower sent a cable to Washington requesting transfer of the Miller AAF unit for the purposes of radio broadcasting and morale. With the impending D-Day invasion of northwest Europe, the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) was establishing a combined allied radio broadcasting service. Eisenhower cited the Miller organization as the “only organization capable of performing the mission required.” The Army Air Forces approved the deployment under the condition that the unit remain under AAF control. Miller and radio producer Sgt. Paul Dudley flew to London on June 19 and the band followed aboard the RMS "Queen Elizabeth", which was serving as a troopship. (pp. 68–75)


title: Glenn Miller

text: Upon arrival in London, the unit was initially billeted at Sloane Court, Chelsea. This was a temporary assignment because Miller had previously arranged for permanent quarters in Bedford. Because of the V-1 flying bomb assault that was underway, SHAEF determined it better to house the band where the BBC had moved operations during the Blitz of 1940-41. In Bedford, the Miller unit would use facilities developed for Sir Adrian Boult and the BBC Symphony. Prior to the band’s arrival, Miller met with SHAEF and BBC officials to coordinate broadcasting plans, including the BBC Director of the new Allied Expeditionary Forces Programme (AEFP), Maurice Gorham, SHAEF Director of Broadcasting, American Col. Edward Kirby, and Deputy Director of SHAEF Broadcasting, British Lt. Col. David Niven. They became Miller’s chain of command.


title: Glenn Miller

text: His distinguished orchestra was attached to SHAEF in London, and was quartered at Milton Ernest near Bedford, England. When the band arrived in London, they were quartered in a BBC Radio office at 25 Sloane Court. Unfortunately, this was in the middle of "Buzz Bomb Alley," an area of sleepless nights because of the constant barrage of German flying V-1 bombs. Miller arranged for new quarters and transportation to move to Bedford on Sunday, July 2, 1944. The next morning, a buzz bomb landed in front of their old quarters, destroyed the building, and killed more than 100 people, which included WACs among the seventy-five American personnel lost. None were Miller band members. Miller told Lieutenant Don Haynes, "As long as [the Miller Luck] stays with us, we have nothing to worry about."


title: Glenn Miller

text: On July 9, 1944, Miller’s 51-piece orchestra and production personnel started broadcasting a series of musical programs over the AEFP under BBC technical supervision. The programs included: “The American Band of the AEF’” (full orchestra), “Swing Shift” (T/Sgt. Ray McKinley dance orchestra), “Uptown Hall” (Sgt. Mel Powell jazz quartet), “Strings With Wings” (Sgt. George Ockner, concertmaster and the string section), “Song by Sgt. Johnny Desmond” (vocalist with orchestra directed by M/Sgt. Norman Leyden) and “Piano Parade” (piano solos by Pvt. Jack Rusin and Sgt. Mel Powell). The orchestra also appeared for the Office of War Information’s Voice of America European outlet. The American Broadcasting Station in Europe (ABSIE) broadcast daily to occupied Europe and Germany. One of its German language programs was “Music for the Wehrmacht,” in which Miller made announcements in phonetic German scripts with a German-speaking announcer named “Isle,” who was actually ABSIE announcer Gloria Wagner. Sgt. Johnny Desmond sang vocals in German on this series. (pp. 118–119, pp. 150–156)


title: Glenn Miller

text: In England, the band kept an extensive schedule of personal appearances at primarily American air bases. Visiting American celebrities Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore appeared on their radio programs. Shore joined Miller for a recording session at Abbey Road Studios, where the orchestra recorded their ABSIE German language programs.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Military service personnel of all ranks enjoyed the band. Their concert at Wycombe Abbey, England at Eighth Air Force Headquarters, was filmed by American Forces Network on July 29, 1944.  General James H. Doolittle, Commanding General of the Eighth Air Force, showed his appreciation as he famously announced, "Captain Miller, next to a letter from home, your band is the greatest morale booster in the European Theater.” (pp. 121–142) This film is now in the care of the National Archives. (RG 342-USAF-49520 (film), NARA; Eighth Air Force, 520.071, A5835, AFHRA).


title: Glenn Miller

text: During November 1944, Miller and Niven sought and received approval to move the unit from England to France. By this time, SHAEF had relocated to Versailles. It was determined that reliable radio broadcasting could be accomplished from Paris and that the Miller orchestra could be seen in person at Paris-area hospitals and by ground troops on leave from the front lines. The move was set for mid-December. As a precaution, the Miller organization had to prerecord eighty hours of broadcasts prior to moving, in addition to their normal schedule. Meanwhile, preparations in France were behind schedule. On December 11, 1944, Niven ordered Miller to replace his executive officer, Lt. Donald Haynes, to fly ahead and complete arrangements before the entire group came across. (pp. 190–210)


title: Glenn Miller

text: The AAF band completed their pre-recordings and regular broadcasts on Tuesday, December 12, 1944, and prepared for the anticipated move to France. As per Niven’s order, Miller was booked on a scheduled Air Transport Command passenger flight from London-Bovingdon to Paris-Orly on Thursday, December 14.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller was on standby for an earlier flight on December 13, but it was canceled due to bad weather in France. His reservation on December 14 was also canceled. Miller was frustrated and impatient, fearing that arrangements would not be made in time to accommodate the movement of his unit to France. On a telephone call to Haynes, he learned that a mutual acquaintance, Lieutenant Colonel Norman Baessell of the Eighth Air Force Service Command at Milton Ernest, was flying to France on December 15. It was to be aboard a Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman assigned to him and piloted by Flight Officer John Stuart Morgan. Baessell invited Miller to join them.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller’s travel orders did not authorize him to board a “casual” flight and he did not report his intentions to his chain of command, so SHAEF was in the dark concerning Miller’s whereabouts. Although AAF and RAF combat missions flew that day, as well as numerous transport planes, the RAF Training Unit at Twinwood Field, near Bedford, had stood down. But the aerodrome was open. At 13:45 Morgan landed at Twinwood, boarded Baessell and Miller, and took off at 13:55. The UC-64 and its occupants were never seen again. The next morning, the Battle of the Bulge began. The Eighth Air Force and SHAEF did not realize that the UC-64 with Miller aboard was missing until three days later, on Monday, December 18, 1944. (pp. 210–242)


title: Glenn Miller

text: Upon realizing the airplane and Miller were missing, Orvil Anderson, Deputy Commander for Operations of the Eighth Air Force, who was married to Miller’s cousin Maude Miller Anderson, ordered a search and investigation. Meanwhile, Miller’s unit had flown safely from England to France aboard three C-47 transports and prepared to begin their broadcasting and concert duties. Since they were scheduled for a Christmas Day broadcast from Paris to England and via shortwave to the United States, news of Miller’s whereabouts would have to be released. AAF Headquarters in Washington, D.C. notified Miller’s wife, Helen, of his disappearance on December 23, 1944, with an in-person visit to their home by two senior officers and a telephone call from Gen. H. H. Arnold. On December 24, 1944 at 18:00 BST, SHAEF announced Miller’s disappearance to the press, stressing that no members of his unit were with him aboard the missing airplane.


title: Glenn Miller

text: The Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra appeared as scheduled on December 25, 1944, conducted by Jerry Gray. The unit continued to broadcast and appear throughout Europe through V-E Day and until August 1945. It received a Unit Citation from Gen. Eisenhower. Returning home, the unit resumed its “I Sustain the Wings” series over NBC.


title: Glenn Miller

text: On November 13, 1945, the AAF Band appeared at the National Press Club for its final concert, which was attended by President Harry Truman and Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King. When the band appeared to the strains of Miller’s theme “Moonlight Serenade,” the president stood and led the audience in a spontaneous round of applause. The band was congratulated for a job “well done” in person by General Eisenhower and General Arnold.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Their last performance was the "I Sustain the Wings" broadcast at Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., on NBC radio on November 17, 1945. Its personnel were gradually discharged, and the unit was disestablished in January 1946.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Helen Miller accepted her husband's Bronze Star Medal at a ceremony at Miller's New York business office on March 23, 1945 ("Glenn Miller Declassified", p. 304). When Miller was officially declared dead in December 1945, Helen received a formal letter of condolence and appreciation from Gen. H. H. Arnold. ("Glenn Miller Declassified", pp. xv-xvi) When Major General Anderson returned from Europe, he visited Helen Miller and informed her of the inquiry findings. ("Glenn Miller Declassified", p 322).


title: Glenn Miller

text: On January 20, 1945, an Eighth Air Force Board of Inquiry in England determined that the UC-64 airplane went down over the English Channel due to a combination of human error, mechanical failure and weather. Remains of the UC-64 and its passengers have never been found. (pp. 269–338). The three officers were officially declared dead on the standard year and a day after they went missing. This was published in a 1946 Army publication showing that Miller has a Finding of Death (FOD). He was missing in action (MIA) on December 15, 1944, and his remains were not recoverable.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller's name is engraved as Alton G. Miller on the "Tablets of the Missing" at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial run by the American Battle Monuments Commission in Cambridge, England. The names of Flight Officer John R. S. Morgan and Lieutenant Colonel Norman Baessell are also carved there. Many Americans who died in the Second World War in Europe are buried there. On behalf of Miller's family and the Glenn Miller Birthplace Society, an Air Force wreath ceremony was conducted there on the 50th anniversary of their deaths, December 15, 1994. A moment of silence was held there and at Arlington National Cemetery.


title: Glenn Miller

text: At his daughter's request nearly 50 years later, an official, government-issued memorial headstone was placed for Major Alton Glenn Miller, US Army (Air Corps), in memorial section H at the Army-run Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia in 1992. A trombone, 464-A, and the words "Bronze Star Medal" are carved on the back of the white marble marker.


title: Glenn Miller

text: A living memorial of the entire unit can be seen from there on Wilson Drive. The "Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra was in service from March 20, 1943 to January 15, 1946" is engraved on the black granite marker in front of their memorial American Holly. The marker has etchings of a trombone and the patches of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) and the Army Air Forces (AAF) on it. Before being etched in stone, the band's title was verified by the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra Veterans Association and its president, Norman Leyden (arranger, clarinetist), Arlington National Cemetery, Army and Air Force historian Kathy Shenkle, the Glenn Miller Archives at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Glenn Miller Birthplace Society, the US Army (Historians and Band), and the US Air Force (Historians and Band).


title: Glenn Miller

text: On behalf of the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra veterans, a memorial American Holly tree was dedicated in Section 13 along Wilson Drive near Miller's memorial headstone on the 50th anniversary of his death, December 15, 1994. The American Holly is meant to remind visitors of the tune "American Patrol". ""Taps"" was sounded at the wreath ceremony, memorial service and living memorial tree dedication. A moment of silence took place both at Arlington and Cambridge. The Secretary of the Air Force was the main speaker. Attendees included Sergeant Emanuel Wishnow (viola), other unit veterans, Miller's family, military service members, US senators, Glenn Miller Archives founder and curator C.F. Alan Cass, and members of the Glenn Miller Birthplace Society. The Jazz Ambassadors of the US Army Field Band performed at the luncheon at Fort Myer that followed the ceremony. One of Miller's trombones was displayed on stage. The Airmen of Note and the Army Blues had performances elsewhere during the day. The US Air Force Band (with their orchestra) played a 50th anniversary memorial concert that night and on tour for the next year. The Coast Guard Band and Marine Corps Band commanders joined the other bands in sending written greetings. On the 75th anniversary on December 15, 2019, Ms. Kathy Shenkle represented them all at a wreath ceremony there with wreaths provided by Wreaths Across America.


title: Glenn Miller

text: The conclusive document concerning the military career and disappearance of Miller appeared during 2017 in the book “Glenn Miller Declassified” by Dennis M. Spragg, director of the Glenn Miller Archives. On behalf of the Glenn Miller Estate and with the full cooperation of American and British authorities, all relevant and many new documents concerning the circumstances of the accident were discovered and published, including the inquiry findings of January 20, 1945. Miller had no other duties than as a musical and broadcasting officer. His high profile and schedule ruled out any clandestine role as later speculated by sensationalists. He was not the victim of foul play or friendly fire. All conspiracy theories surrounding his death were therefore debunked before December 15, 2019, the 75th anniversary of his death.


title: Glenn Miller

text: In 2019, the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) was reported to be investigating a report that Miller’s airplane was possibly discovered many miles west of its required flight path but nothing further has been reported or found. Given modern technology, a well-funded and patient exploration could possibly find and identify the debris of the airplane along the required air transport corridor between Langney Point (Beachy Head) and St. Valery, France.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller and his music became an institution as Miller wished. His music is still played worldwide by professional and amateur musicians every day, including BBC radio.


title: Glenn Miller

text: The Miller estate authorized an official Glenn Miller legacy or ghost band in 1946, the Glenn Miller Orchestra. This band was led by Tex Beneke, former tenor saxophonist and a singer for the civilian band. It had a makeup similar to the Army Air Forces Band: It included a large string section, and at least initially, about two-thirds of the musicians were alumni of either the civilian or AAF orchestras. The orchestra's official public début was at the Capitol Theatre on Broadway, where it opened for a three-week engagement on January 24, 1946. Future television and film composer Henry Mancini was the band's pianist and one of the arrangers. This ghost band played to very large audiences all across the United States, including a few dates at the Hollywood Palladium in 1947, where the original Miller band played in 1941. A website concerning the history of the Hollywood Palladium noted "[even] as the big band era faded, the Tex Beneke and Glenn Miller Orchestra concert at the Palladium resulted in a record-breaking crowd of 6,750 dancers." By 1949, economics dictated that the string section be dropped. This band recorded for RCA Victor, just as the original Miller band did. Beneke was struggling with how to expand the Miller sound and also how to achieve success under his own name. What began as the "Glenn Miller Orchestra Under the Direction of Tex Beneke" finally became "The Tex Beneke Orchestra". By 1950, Beneke and the Miller estate parted ways. The break was acrimonious, although Beneke is now listed by the Miller estate as a former leader of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and his role is now acknowledged on the orchestra's website.


title: Glenn Miller

text: When Miller was alive, many bandleaders such as Bob Chester imitated his style. By the early 1950s, various bands were again copying the Miller style of clarinet-led reeds and muted trumpets, notably Ralph Flanagan, Jerry Gray, and Ray Anthony. This, coupled with the success of "The Glenn Miller Story" (1953), inspired the Miller estate to ask Ray McKinley to lead a new ghost band called the Glenn Miller Orchestra. This 1956 band is the original version of the current ghost band that still tours the United States today. The official Glenn Miller Orchestra for the United States is currently under the direction of Nick Hilscher. The officially sanctioned Glenn Miller Orchestra for the United Kingdom has toured and recorded under the leadership of Ray McVay. The official Glenn Miller Orchestra for Europe has been led by Wil Salden since 1990. The Official Glenn Miller Orchestra for Scandinavia has been led by Jan Slottenäs since 2010.


title: Glenn Miller

text: The Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra's long-term legacy has carried on with the Airmen of Note, a band within the United States Air Force Band. " The Airmen of Note is the premier jazz ensemble of the United States Air Force. Stationed at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C., it is one of six musical ensembles that form The US Air Force Band." Created in 1950 to continue the tradition of Major Glenn Miller's Army Air Forces dance band, the current band consists of 18 active-duty musicians, including one vocalist. This band was created in 1950 from smaller groups within the Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, DC, and continues to play jazz music for the Air Force community and the general public. The legacy also continues through The United States Air Forces in Europe Band, stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Today, every branch of the US armed forces has a big band component. This includes: The Ambassadors in US Army Air Forces Europe, The US Army Band's Army Blues, the US Army Field Band's Jazz Ambassadors, and the US Navy Commodores. The US Coast Guard has one musical organization to perform all types of music. That includes a Coast Guard musical unit called the Guardians. The Coast Guard Band and Yale University bands performed a joint concert for the 75th anniversary of Miller's death. The military bands consist of units such as concert bands, marching bands, jazz orchestras, small combos, and elements that play swing, rock, country, and bluegrass. Miller is considered to be the father of all modern United States military bands.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller "was a stickler for details and accuracy and always the truth. How delighted he would have been with Ed Polic's superbly documented report," wrote George Simon as he recommended, "The Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band: Sustineo Alas / I Sustain the Wings" to readers of the "American Reference Books Annual". In 1314 pages, Polic covers a "small but significant period of Glenn Miller's life and music, from his enlistment in 1942 and the beginning of his [Army Air Forces Orchestra (band for short)] in 1943, through its end in late 1945, giving an overall history of the band and a detailed recounting of the day-by-day activities of the band."


title: Glenn Miller

text: Numerous archives, museums and memorials in the United States and England are devoted to Miller. Herb Miller, Miller's brother, led his own band in the United States and England until the late 1980s.


title: Glenn Miller

text: In 1953, Universal-International pictures released "The Glenn Miller Story", starring James Stewart; Ray Eberle, Marion Hutton, and Tex Beneke neither appear in nor are referred to in it.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Annual festivals celebrating Miller's legacy are held in two of the towns most associated with his youth, Clarinda, Iowa, and Fort Morgan, Colorado.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Since 1975, the Glenn Miller Birthplace Society has held its annual Glenn Miller Festival in Clarinda, Iowa. The festival's highlights include performances by the official Glenn Miller Orchestra under the direction of Nick Hilscher, and many other civilian and military jazz bands. It also includes visits to the restored Miller home, the Glenn Miller Birthplace Museum, historical displays from the Glenn Miller Archives at the University of Colorado, lectures and presentations about Miller's life, and a scholarship competition for young classical and jazz musicians.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Every summer since 1996, the city of Fort Morgan, Colorado, has hosted a public event called the Glenn Miller SwingFest. Miller graduated from Fort Morgan High School, where he played football and other sports, was on the yearbook staff, was in the orchestra, and formed his own band with classmates. Events include musical performances and swing dancing, community picnics, lectures, and fundraising for scholarships to attend the School for the Performing Arts, a nonprofit dance, voice, piano, percussion, guitar, violin, and drama studio program in Fort Morgan. Each year, about 2,000 people attend this summer festival, which serves to introduce younger generations to the music Miller made famous, as well as the style of dance and dress popular in the big-band era.


title: Glenn Miller

text: The Glenn Miller Archives at the University of Colorado at Boulder houses many of Miller's recordings, gold records and other memorabilia. It is also open to scholarly research and the general public. Formed by Alan Cass, the Glenn Miller Archives includes the original manuscript of Miller's theme song, "Moonlight Serenade".


title: Glenn Miller

text: In 1957, a Student Union Building was completed at the University of Colorado's Boulder campus and the ballroom was named the Glenn Miller Ballroom.


title: Glenn Miller

text: In 2002, the Glenn Miller Museum opened to the public at the former RAF Twinwood Farm, in Clapham, Bedfordshire, England.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller's name is engraved as Alton G. Miller on the "Tablets of the Missing" at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial run by the American Battle Monuments Commission in Cambridge, England, United Kingdom. The names of Flight Officer John R. S. Morgan and Lieutenant Colonel Norman Baessell are also carved there.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller's government-issued, white marble, memorial headstone is located in Memorial Section H (# 464-A) by Wilson Drive at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. The Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra Memorial American Holly can be seen from there.


title: Glenn Miller

text: A Miller fan, Peter Cofrancesco bought a gravesite at Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut, and placed a black granite cenotaph there.  He has no relationship to Major Miller's family.  Here is the inscription along with corrections that could be made if it is ever replaced or moved to a non-grave location.  An etching of Major Miller in uniform / IN MEMORY / Major A. [ Alton] Glenn Miller / 0505273 / US Army Air Force [Forces] - W. W. II / Born- Clarinda, Iowa -  /  March 1, 1904 / Missing in Action [ / Died] / Europe, Dec. 15, 1944 / 1943-1944 / 418th A.A.F.T.T.C. Band- [AKA Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra] / Yale University- New Haven, CT. / I SUSTAIN THE WINGS / Sustineo Alas.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller was awarded a Star for Recording on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6915 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. The headquarters of the United States Air Forces in Europe Band at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, is named Glenn Miller Hall.


title: Glenn Miller

text: On June 25, 1999, the Nebraska State Highway Commission unanimously agreed to name Nebraska Highway 97 between North Platte, where Miller attended elementary school, and Tryon, where the Miller family briefly lived, as Glenn Miller Memorial Highway.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller had a staff of arrangers who wrote originals such as "String of Pearls" (written and arranged by Jerry Gray) or took originals such as "In The Mood" (writing credit given to Joe Garland and arranged by Eddie Durham) and "Tuxedo Junction" (written by bandleader Erskine Hawkins and arranged by Jerry Gray) and arranged them for the Miller band to either record or broadcast. Miller's staff of arrangers in his civilian band, who handled the bulk of the work, were Jerry Gray (a former arranger for Artie Shaw), Bill Finegan (a former arranger for Tommy Dorsey), Billy May and to a much smaller extent, George Williams, who worked very briefly with the band as well as Andrews Sisters arranger Vic Schoen


title: Glenn Miller

text: According to arranger and conductor Norman Leyden, he and others did arrangements "for Miller in the service, including Jerry Gray, Ralph Wilkinson, Mel Powell, and Steve Steck." In 1943, Miller wrote "Glenn Miller's Method for Orchestral Arranging", published by his own company the Mutual Music Society in New York, a 116-page book with illustrations and scores that explains how he wrote his musical arrangements.


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller, US Army (Air Corps) earned a Bronze Star Medal, World War II Victory Medal; American Campaign Medal; European, African and Middle Eastern Campaign Medal; and Marksman Badge with Carbine and Pistol Bars.


title: Glenn Miller

text: "Major Alton Glenn Miller (Army Serial No. 0505273), Air Corps, United States Army, for meritorious service in connection with military operations as Commander of the Army Air Force Band (Special), from 9 July 1944 to 15 December 1944. Major Miller, through excellent judgment and professional skill, conspicuously blended the abilities of the outstanding musicians, comprising the group, into a harmonious orchestra whose noteworthy contribution to the morale of the armed forces has been little less than sensational. Major Miller constantly sought to increase the services rendered by his organization, and it was through him that the band was ordered to Paris to give this excellent entertainment to as many troops as possible. His superior accomplishments are highly commendable and reflect the highest credit upon himself and the armed forces of the United States."


title: Glenn Miller

text: Miller had three recordings that were posthumously inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance."


title: Fritz Haber

text: Fritz Haber (; 9 December 186829 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber–Bosch process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas. This invention is important for the large-scale synthesis of fertilisers and explosives. It is estimated that one-third of annual global food production uses ammonia from the Haber–Bosch process, and that this supports nearly half of the world's population. Haber, along with Max Born, proposed the Born–Haber cycle as a method for evaluating the lattice energy of an ionic solid.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber, a known German nationalist, is also considered the "father of chemical warfare" for his years of pioneering work developing and weaponising chlorine and other poisonous gases during World War I, especially his actions during the Second Battle of Ypres. His work was later also used to develop Zyklon B, used for the murder of more than 1 million of his fellow Jews in gas chambers in the greater context of the Holocaust.


title: Fritz Haber

text: After the Nazi rise to power in 1933, Haber was forced to resign from his positions because he was Jewish. Already in poor health, he spent time in various countries, before Chaim Weizmann invited him to become the director of the Sieff Research Institute (now the Weizmann Institute) in Rehovot, Mandatory Palestine. He accepted the offer, but died of heart failure mid-journey in a Basel hotel on 29 January 1934, aged 65.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber has been called one of the most important scientists, if not the most important, in human history and the greatest industrial chemist who ever lived.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber was born in Breslau, Kingdom of Prussia (now Wrocław, Poland), into a well-off Jewish family. Despite Haber being a common family name in Breslau, the family has been traced back to a great-grandfather, Pinkus Selig Haber, who was a wool dealer from Kempen (now Kępno, Poland). An important Prussian edict of 13 March 1812 determined that Jews and their families, including Pinkus Haber, were "to be treated as local citizens and citizens of Prussia". Under such regulations, members of the Haber family were able to establish themselves in respected positions in business, politics, and law.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber was the son of Siegfried and Paula Haber, who were first cousins who married in spite of considerable opposition from their families. Haber's father Siegfried was a well-known merchant in the town, who had founded his own business in dye pigments, paints and pharmaceuticals. Paula experienced a difficult pregnancy and died three weeks after Fritz's birth, leaving Siegfried devastated and Fritz in the care of various aunts. When Haber was about six years old, Siegfried remarried to Hedwig Hamburger. Siegfried and his second wife had three daughters; Else, Helene and Frieda. Although his relationship with his father was distant and often difficult due to Fritz being associated with the death of his first wife, Haber developed close relationships with his step-mother and his half-sisters. Siegfried displayed love and care for his three daughters but never fully accepted Fritz as his son.


title: Fritz Haber

text: By the time Fritz was born, the Habers had to some extent assimilated into German society. He attended primary school at the Johanneum School, a "simultaneous school" open equally to Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish students. At age 11, he went to school at the St. Elizabeth classical school, in a class evenly divided between Protestant and Jewish students. His family supported the Jewish community and continued to observe many Jewish traditions, but were not strongly associated with the synagogue. Haber identified strongly as German, less so as Jewish.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber successfully passed his examinations at the St. Elizabeth High School in Breslau in September 1886. Although his father wished him to apprentice in the dye company, Haber obtained his father's permission to study chemistry at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin (today the Humboldt University of Berlin), with the director of the Institute for Chemistry A. W. Hofmann. Haber was disappointed by his initial winter semester (1886–87) in Berlin, and arranged to attend the Heidelberg University for the summer semester of 1887, where he studied under Robert Bunsen. He then returned to Berlin, to the Technical College of Charlottenburg (today the Technical University of Berlin).


title: Fritz Haber

text: In the summer of 1889, Haber was conscripted and left university to perform his One-year volunteer service in the Sixth Field Artillery Regiment. Upon its completion, he returned to Charlottenburg where he became a student of Carl Liebermann. In addition to Liebermann's lectures on organic chemistry, Haber also attended lectures by Otto Witt on the chemical technology of dyes.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Liebermann assigned Haber to work on reactions with piperonal for his thesis topic, published as (About a Few piperonal Derivatives) in 1891. Haber received his doctorate "cum laude" from Friedrich Wilhelm University in May 1891, after presenting his work to a board of examiners from the University of Berlin, since Charlottenburg was not yet accredited to grant doctorates.


title: Fritz Haber

text: With his degree, Haber returned to Breslau to work at his father's chemical business, where their relationship continued to have difficulties. Through Siegfried's connections, Haber was assigned a series of practical apprenticeships in different chemical companies to gain experience. These included Grünwald and Company (a Budapest distillery), an Austrian ammonia-sodium factory, and the Feldmühle paper and cellulose works. These experiences drove Haber to learn more about technical processes, and persuaded his father to let him spend a semester at the Polytechnic College in Zürich (now the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), studying with Georg Lunge. In the Fall of 1892, Haber returned again to Breslau to work in his father's company, but the two men continued to clash and Siegfried finally accepted that they could not work well together.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber had received a PhD in chemistry by this time, but his father required him to take handwriting courses and become a salesman to learn more about the company. Haber urged his father to transfer from natural to synthetic dyes, however his father refused. Eventually, his father followed global business trends and switched to synthetic dyes. Haber's next suggestion was for his father to purchase calcium hypochlorite which at the time was the only known treatment of cholera. The current cholera epidemic ended up being isolated and thus resulted in their possession of a sizeable amount of unused calcium hypochlorite, which is unstable. This caused a rift between Siegfried and Haber, with his father telling him to go back to his university studies as he did not belong in the business world.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber then sought an academic appointment, first working as an independent assistant to Ludwig Knorr at the University of Jena between 1892 and 1894. During his time in Jena, Haber converted from Judaism to Lutheranism, possibly in an attempt to improve his chances of getting a better academic or military position. Knorr recommended Haber to Carl Engler, a chemistry professor at the University of Karlsruhe who was intensely interested in the chemical technology of dyes and the dye industry, and the study of synthetic materials for textiles. Engler referred Haber to a colleague in Karlsruhe, , who made Haber an "Assistent" in 1894.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Bunte suggested that Haber examine the thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons. By making careful quantitative analyses, Haber was able to establish that "the thermal stability of the carbon-carbon bond is greater than that of the carbon-hydrogen bond in aromatic compounds and smaller in aliphatic compounds", a classic result in the study of pyrolysis of hydrocarbons. This work became Haber's habilitation thesis.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber was appointed a Privatdozent in Bunte's institute, taking on teaching duties related to the area of dye technology, and continuing to work on the combustion of gases. In 1896, the university supported him in travelling to Silesia, Saxony, and Austria to learn about advances in dye technology.


title: Fritz Haber

text: In 1897 Haber made a similar trip to learn about developments in electrochemistry. He had been interested in the area for some time, and had worked with another privatdozent, Hans Luggin, who gave theoretical lectures in electrochemistry and physical chemistry. Haber's 1898 book (Outline of technical electrochemistry based on theoretical foundations) attracted considerable attention, particularly his work on the reduction of nitrobenzene. In the book's foreword, Haber expresses his gratitude to Luggin, who died on 5 December 1899. Haber collaborated with others in the area as well, including Georg Bredig, a student and later an assistant of Wilhelm Ostwald in Leipzig.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Bunte and Engler supported an application for further authorisation of Haber's teaching activities, and on 6 December 1898, Haber was invested with the title of "Extraordinarius" and an associate professorship, by order of the Grand Duke Friedrich von Baden.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber worked in a variety of areas while at Karlsruhe, making significant contributions in several areas. In the area of dye and textiles, he and Friedrich Bran were able to theoretically explain steps in textile printing processes developed by Adolf Holz. Discussions with Carl Engler prompted Haber to explain autoxidation in electrochemical terms, differentiating between dry and wet autoxidation. Haber's examinations of the thermodynamics of the reaction of solids confirmed that Faraday's laws hold for the electrolysis of crystalline salts. This work led to a theoretical basis for the glass electrode and the measurement of electrolytic potentials. Haber's work on irreversible and reversible forms of electrochemical reduction are considered classics in the field of electrochemistry. He also studied the passivity of non-rare metals and the effects of electric current on corrosion of metals. In addition, Haber published his second book, (1905) trans. "Thermodynamics of technical gas-reactions: seven lectures" (1908), later regarded as "a model of accuracy and critical insight" in the field of chemical thermodynamics.


title: Fritz Haber

text: In 1906, Max Le Blanc, chair of the physical chemistry department at Karlsruhe, accepted a position at the University of Leipzig. After receiving recommendations from a search committee, the Ministry of Education in Baden offered the full professorship for physical chemistry at Karlsruhe to Haber, who accepted the offer.


title: Fritz Haber

text: During his time at University of Karlsruhe from 1894 to 1911, Haber and his assistant Robert Le Rossignol invented the Haber–Bosch process, which is the catalytic formation of ammonia from hydrogen and atmospheric nitrogen under conditions of high temperature and pressure. This discovery was a direct consequence of Le Châtelier's principle, announced in 1884, which states that when a system is in equilibrium and one of the factors affecting it is changed, the system will respond by minimising the effect of the change. Since it was known how to decompose ammonia in the presence of a nickel-based catalyst, one could derive from Le Châtelier's principle that the reaction could be reversed to produce ammonia at high temperature and pressure. This was a process that Henry Louis Le Châtelier had even tried himself, but which he abandoned after a technician almost died due to an oxygen-intake-related explosion.


title: Fritz Haber

text: To further develop the process for large-scale ammonia production, Haber turned to industry. Partnering with Carl Bosch at BASF, the process was successfully scaled up to produce commercial quantities of ammonia. The Haber–Bosch process was a milestone in industrial chemistry. The production of nitrogen-based products such as fertiliser and chemical feedstocks, which was previously dependent on acquisition of ammonia from limited natural deposits, now became possible using an easily available, abundant baseatmospheric nitrogen. The ability to produce much larger quantities of nitrogen-based fertilizers in turn supported much greater agricultural yields, supporting half the world's population.


title: Fritz Haber

text: The discovery of a new way of producing ammonia had other significant economic impacts as well. Chile had been a major (and almost unique) exporter of natural deposits such as sodium nitrate (caliche). After the introduction of the Haber process, naturally extracted nitrate production in Chile fell from 2.5 million tons (employing 60,000 workers and selling at US$45/ton) in 1925 to just 800,000 tons, produced by 14,133 workers, and selling at $19/ton in 1934.


title: Fritz Haber

text: The annual world production of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser is currently more than 100 million tons. The food base of half of the current world population is based on the Haber–Bosch process.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber was awarded the 1918 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this work (he actually received the award in 1919).


title: Fritz Haber

text: In his acceptance speech for that Nobel Prize Haber commented, "It may be that this solution is not the final one. Nitrogen bacteria teach us that Nature, with her sophisticated forms of the chemistry of living matter, still understands and utilizes methods which we do not as yet know how to imitate."


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber was also active in the research on combustion reactions, the separation of gold from sea water, adsorption effects, electrochemistry, and free radical research (see Fenton's reagent). A large part of his work from 1911 to 1933 was done at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry at Berlin-Dahlem. In 1953, this institute was renamed for him. He is sometimes credited, incorrectly, with first synthesising MDMA (which was first synthesised by Merck KGaA chemist Anton Köllisch in 1912).


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber greeted World War I with enthusiasm, joining 92 other German intellectuals in signing the "Manifesto of the Ninety-Three" in October 1914. Haber played a major role in the development of the non-ballistic use of chemical warfare in World War I, in spite of the proscription of their use in shells by the Hague Convention of 1907 (to which Germany was a signatory). He was promoted to the rank of captain and made head of the Chemistry Section in the Ministry of War soon after the war began. In addition to leading the teams developing chlorine gas and other deadly gases for use in trench warfare, Haber was on hand personally when it was first released by the German military at the Second Battle of Ypres (22 April to 25 May 1915) in Belgium. The team Haber assembled consisted of more than 150 scientists and 1300 technical personnel. Haber also helped to develop gas masks with adsorbent filters which could protect against such weapons.


title: Fritz Haber

text: A special troop was formed for gas warfare (Pioneer Regiments 35 and 36) under the command of Otto Peterson, with Haber and Friedrich Kerschbaum as advisors. Haber actively recruited physicists, chemists, and other scientists to be transferred to the unit. Future Nobel laureates James Franck, Gustav Hertz, and Otto Hahn served as gas troops in Haber's unit. In 1914 and 1915, before the Second Battle of Ypres, Haber's unit investigated reports that the French had deployed Turpenite, a supposed chemical weapon, against German soldiers.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Gas warfare in World War I was, in a sense, the war of the chemists, with Haber pitted against French Nobel laureate chemist Victor Grignard. Regarding war and peace, Haber once said, "during peace time a scientist belongs to the World, but during war time he belongs to his country." This was an example of the ethical dilemmas facing chemists at that time.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber was a patriotic German who was proud of his service during World War I, for which he was decorated. He was even given the rank of captain by the Kaiser, which Haber had been denied 25 years earlier during his compulsory military service.


title: Fritz Haber

text: In his studies of the effects of poison gas, Haber noted that exposure to a low concentration of a poisonous gas for a long time often had the same effect (death) as exposure to a high concentration for a short time. He formulated a simple mathematical relationship between the gas concentration and the necessary exposure time. This relationship became known as Haber's rule.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber defended gas warfare against accusations that it was inhumane, saying that death was death, by whatever means it was inflicted and referred to history: "The disapproval that the knight had for the man with the firearm is repeated in the soldier who shoots with steel bullets towards the man who confronts him with chemical weapons. [...] The gas weapons are not at all more cruel than the flying iron pieces; on the contrary, the fraction of fatal gas diseases is comparatively smaller, the mutilations are missing".


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber received much criticism for his involvement in the development of chemical weapons in pre-World War II Germany, both from contemporaries, especially Albert Einstein, and from modern-day scientists.


title: Fritz Haber

text: From 1919 to 1923 Haber continued to be involved in Germany's secret development of chemical weapons, working with Hugo Stoltzenberg, and helping both Spain and Russia in the development of chemical gases.


title: Fritz Haber

text: During the 1920s, scientists working at Haber's institute developed the cyanide gas formulation Zyklon A, which was used as an insecticide, especially as a fumigant in grain stores.


title: Fritz Haber

text: From 1919 to 1925, in response to a request made by German ambassador Wilhelm Solf to Japan for Japanese support for German scholars in times of financial hardship, a Japanese businessman named Hoshi Hajime, the president of Hoshi Pharmaceutical Company, donated two million Reichsmark to the Kaiser Wilhelm Society as the 'Japan Fund' (Hoshi-Ausschuss). Haber was asked to manage the fund, and was invited by Hoshi to Japan in 1924. Haber offered a number of chemical licences to Hoshi's company, but the offers were refused. The money from the Fund was used to support the work of Richard Willstätter, Max Planck, Otto Hahn, Leo Szilard, and others.


title: Fritz Haber

text: In the 1920s, Haber searched exhaustively for a method to extract gold from sea water, and published a number of scientific papers on the subject. After years of research, he concluded that the concentration of gold dissolved in sea water was much lower than that reported by earlier researchers, and that gold extraction from sea water was uneconomic.


title: Fritz Haber

text: By 1931, Haber was increasingly concerned about the rise of National Socialism in Germany, and the possible safety of his friends, associates, and family. Under the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service of 7 April 1933, Jewish scientists at the Kaiser Wilhelm Society were particularly targeted. The ("Journal for all natural sciences") charged that "The founding of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes in Dahlem was the prelude to an influx of Jews into the physical sciences. The directorship of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical and Electrochemistry was given to the Jew, F. Haber, the nephew of the big-time Jewish profiteer Koppel". (Koppel was not actually related to Haber.) Haber was stunned by these developments, since he assumed that his conversion to Christianity and his services to the state during World War I should have made him a German patriot. Ordered to dismiss all Jewish personnel, Haber attempted to delay their departures long enough to find them somewhere to go. As of 30 April 1933, Haber wrote to Bernhard Rust, the national and Prussian minister of Education, and to Max Planck, president of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, to tender his resignation as the director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, and as a professor at the university, effective 1 October 1933. He said that although as a converted Jew he might be legally entitled to remain in his position, he no longer wished to do so.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber and his son Hermann also urged that Haber's children by Charlotte Nathan, at boarding school in Germany, should leave the country. Charlotte and the children moved to the United Kingdom around 1933 or 1934. After the war, Charlotte's children became British citizens.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber met Clara Immerwahr in Breslau in 1889, while he was serving his required year in the military. Clara was the daughter of a chemist who owned a sugar factory, and was the first woman to earn a PhD (in chemistry) at the University of Breslau. She converted from Judaism to Christianity in 1897, several years before she and Haber became engaged. They were married on 3 August 1901; their son Hermann was born on 1 June 1902.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Clara was a women's rights activist and according to some accounts, a pacifist. Intelligent and a perfectionist, she became increasingly depressed after her marriage and the loss of her career. On 2 May 1915, following an argument with Haber, Clara committed suicide in their garden by shooting herself in the heart with his service revolver. She did not die immediately, and was found by her 12-year-old son, Hermann, who had heard the shot.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Her reasons for suicide remain the subject of speculation. There were multiple stresses in the marriage, and it has been suggested that she opposed Haber's work in chemical warfare. According to this view, her suicide may have been in part a response to Haber's having personally overseen the first successful use of chlorine gas during the Second Battle of Ypres, resulting in over 67,000 casualties. Haber left within days for the Eastern Front to oversee gas release against the Russian Army. Originally buried in Dahlem, Clara's remains were later transferred at her husband's request to Basel, where she is buried next to him.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber married his second wife, Charlotte Nathan, on 25 October 1917 in Berlin. When out travelling, Fritz was staying at the Adlon Hotel which was near the Deutsche Klub. At this establishment, Fritz met Charlotta Nathan who was one of the secretaries and sparked his interest with her accomplishments despite not having extensive experience or education. On the day that he met her, it had been raining and she gave him an umbrella to use to which he replied "I lay the umbrella into your arms and myself and my thanks at your feet". She replied, "I'd rather like the contrary". They began seeing each other and he would soon propose to her. Charlotta rejected the proposal at first due to their large age difference but eventually, she agreed. Charlotte, like Clara, converted from Judaism to Christianity before marrying Haber. The couple had two children, Eva-Charlotte and Ludwig Fritz ("Lutz"). Again, however, there were conflicts, and the couple were divorced as of 6 December 1927.


title: Fritz Haber

text: Haber and Clara's son Hermann Haber lived in France until 1941, but was unable to obtain French citizenship. When Germany invaded France during World War II, Hermann and his wife and three daughters escaped internment on a French ship travelling from Marseilles to the Caribbean. From there, they obtained visas allowing them to immigrate to the United States. Hermann's wife Margarethe died after the end of the war, and Hermann committed suicide in 1946. His oldest daughter, Claire, committed suicide in 1949; also a chemist, she had been told her research into an antidote for the effects of chlorine gas was being set aside, as work on the atomic bomb was taking precedence.