title: Sixteen Candles

text: For the male lead in the film, it had come down to Schoeffling and Viggo Mortensen. For the part of Ted, Hughes saw a number of actors for the role including Jim Carrey and Keith Coogan. "Every single kid who came in to read for the part... did the whole, stereotyped high school nerd thing. You know—thick glasses, ball point pens in the pocket, white socks. But when Michael came in he played it straight, like a real human being. I knew right at that moment that I'd found my geek."


title: Sixteen Candles

text: "Sixteen Candles" was filmed primarily in and around the Chicago North Shore suburban communities of Evanston, Skokie, and Highland Park, Illinois during the summer of 1983, when leads Ringwald and Hall were 15 years old. Most of the exterior scenes and some of the interior scenes were filmed at Niles East High School, close to downtown Skokie, the setting for Hall's driving the Rolls Royce. A cafeteria scene and a gym scene were filmed at Niles North High School. The auto shop scene was filmed at Niles East High School in the auto shop. The Baker house is located at 3022 Payne Street in Evanston. The church (Glencoe Union Church at 263 Park Avenue) and parking lot where the final scenes take place are in Glencoe.


title: Sixteen Candles

text: The original soundtrack was released as a specially priced mini album containing only 5 songs. However, the movie actually featured an extensive selection of over 30 songs. Songs from the movie that were not included on the soundtrack EP are as follows:


title: Sixteen Candles

text: Pre-2003 releases of the film featured a re-scored soundtrack due to rights issues. This wasn't until 2003 when the film was released on DVD with the original theatrical mix intact albeit in 5.1. In 2008, the film was again released on DVD as a "Flashback Edition" with a new featurette titled "Celebrating Sixteen Candles".


title: Sixteen Candles

text: In 2012, the film was released on Blu-ray for the first time as part of Universal's 100th Anniversary with the 2008 featurette carried over, along with two new features highlighting the impact of Universal Studios: "The 80s" and "Unforgettable Characters".


title: Sixteen Candles

text: In 2019, Universal re-released the film on Blu-ray in a digipak highlighting its 35th anniversary. The disc was the same 2012 release with nothing new added. In that same year, Arrow Video announced their release with a new 4K restoration.


title: Sixteen Candles

text: In its opening weekend the film grossed $4,461,520 in 1,240 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking second. By the end of its run, "Sixteen Candles" grossed $23,686,027 against a budget of $6.5 million.


title: Sixteen Candles

text: Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 81% of critics gave it a positive rating, based on 43 reviews with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Significantly more mature than the teen raunch comedies that defined the era, "Sixteen Candles" is shot with compassion and clear respect for its characters and their hang-ups". Metacritic gave the film a score of 61 based on 11 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Sixteen Candles

text: Ringwald's performance was especially praised; "Variety" called her "engaging and credible" while Roger Ebert wrote that she "provides a perfect center for the story" in "a sweet and funny movie".


title: Sixteen Candles

text: Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" called the film "a cuter and better-natured teen comedy than most, with the kinds of occasional lapses in taste that probably can't hurt it in the circles for which it is intended. The middle of the film wastes time on a bit more house-wrecking and car-crashing than is absolutely necessary, and there are some notably unfunny ethnic jokes. But most of the movie is cheerful and light, showcasing Mr. Hughes's knack for remembering all those aspects of middle-class American adolescent behavior that anyone else might want to forget."


title: Sixteen Candles

text: Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and called it "the best teenage comedy since last year's "Risky Business"", saying it was "certain to draw a lot of laughs, but the guess here is that it also will offer comfort to young girls and boys who feel awkward. And comfort and moments of recognition are in short supply in teenage movies, which often portray a world of violence and sexual mastery that is a lie."


title: Sixteen Candles

text: Pauline Kael wrote in "The New Yorker", "It doesn't amount to much, and it's certainly not to be confused with a work of art or a work of any depth, but the young writer-director John Hughes has a knack for making you like the high-school age characters better each time you hear them talk." Sheila Benson of the "Los Angeles Times" stated that ""Vacation" worked, for all its raunchiness. "Sixteen Candles" mixture of the sympathetic and the synthetic, the raucous and the racist, doesn't. At least not for me ... it flails about, substituting chaos and raunchy language for any semblance of wit."


title: Sixteen Candles

text: Gary Arnold of "The Washington Post" wrote, "Hughes isn't vigilant or deft enough to prevent the dramatic focus of attention from shifting at about the halfway point; he can't quite finesse the letdown that sets in when the engaging teen-age heroine, Samantha, delightfully embodied by Molly Ringwald, is allowed to become almost a subsidiary character in the second half of the story. Nevertheless, "Sixteen Candles" blends an idiosyncratic screwball imagination with a flair for updated domestic comedy and scenes of intimate, quirkily affectionate character interplay."


title: Sixteen Candles

text: A 1984 review in "The New York Times" criticized the character of Long Duk Dong for being "unfunny" and a "potentially offensive stereotype" of Asian people. In 2008, Alison MacAdam of NPR wrote, "To some viewers, he represents one of the most offensive Asian stereotypes Hollywood ever gave America." Asian Americans have complained that they were taunted with quotes of his stilted-English lines.


title: Sixteen Candles

text: In an article published in "Salon", Amy Benfer considers whether the film directly condones date rape even though no sexual activity is established, consensual or otherwise. After the party scene, Jake tells Ted that his girlfriend Caroline is "in the bedroom right now, passed out cold. I could violate her ten different ways if I wanted to." He encourages Ted to drive her home saying, "She's so blitzed she won't know the difference." When Caroline and Ted wake up next to each other in the car, Caroline says she's fairly certain they had sex though neither of them remember it. Benfer writes, "The scene only works because people were stupid about date rape at the time. Even in a randy teen comedy, you would never see two sympathetic male characters conspiring to take advantage of a drunk chick these days."


title: Sixteen Candles

text: Author Anthony C. Bleach has argued that one possibility for Caroline's emotional and physical ruin in the film "might be that she is unappreciative of (or unreflective about) her class position", adding that, "What happens to Caroline in the narrative, whether her sloppy drunkenness, her scalping, or the potential for sexual coercion, seems to be both a projection of Samantha's desire to acquire Jake and become his girlfriend and a project of the film's desire to somehow harm the upper class."


title: Sixteen Candles

text: In December 1984, Ringwald and Hall both won Young Artist Awards as "Best Young Actress in a Motion Picture" and "Best Young Actor in a Motion Picture" for their roles in the film, respectively becoming the first and only juvenile performers in the history of the Young Artist Awards to win the Best Leading Actress and Best Leading Actor awards for the same film (a distinction the film still retains as of 2014). The movie is ranked number 8 on "Entertainment Weekly's" list of "The 50 Best High School Movies".


title: Sixteen Candles

text: In 2005, Ringwald was said to be producing a sequel after having turned down previous offers. "I couldn't see how it would work. Now, it seems right." By 2008, Ringwald was campaigning for the sequel, but said she was uncomfortable doing the film without the involvement of Hughes who, at that point, was not interested. Hughes died in 2009.


title: Sixteen Candles

text: In 2022, a project inspired by "Sixteen Candles" titled "15 Candles" entered development for Peacock. It is executive produced by Selena Gomez along with writers/executive producers Tanya Saracho and Gabriela Revilla Lugo.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive councils shortly afterwards. The coronation was held more than one year later because of the tradition of allowing an appropriate length of time to pass after a monarch dies before holding such festivals. It also gave the planning committees adequate time to make preparations for the ceremony. During the service, Elizabeth took an oath, was anointed with holy oil, was invested with robes and regalia, and was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Celebrations took place across the Commonwealth realms and a commemorative medal was issued. It has been the only British coronation to be fully televised; television cameras had not been allowed inside the abbey during her parents' coronation in 1937. Elizabeth's was the fourth and last British coronation of the 20th century. It was estimated to have cost £1.57 million (c. £43,427,400 in 2019).


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: The one-day ceremony took 14 months of preparation: the first meeting of the Coronation Commission was in April 1952, under the chairmanship of the Queen's husband, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Other committees were also formed, such as the Coronation Joint Committee and the Coronation Executive Committee, both chaired by the Duke of Norfolk who, by convention as Earl Marshal, had overall responsibility for the event. Many physical preparations and decorations along the route were the responsibility of David Eccles, Minister of Works. Eccles described his role and that of the Earl Marshal: "The Earl Marshal is the producer – I am the stage manager..."


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: The committees involved high commissioners from other Commonwealth realms, reflecting the international nature of the coronation; however, officials from other Commonwealth realms declined invitations to participate in the event because the governments of those countries considered the ceremony to be a religious rite unique to Britain. As Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent said at the time: "In my view the Coronation is the official enthronement of the Sovereign as Sovereign of the UK. We are happy to attend and witness the Coronation of the Sovereign of the UK but we are not direct participants in that function." The Coronation Commission announced in June 1952 that the coronation would take place on 2 June 1953.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Norman Hartnell was commissioned by the Queen to design the outfits for all members of the royal family, including Elizabeth's coronation gown. His design for the gown evolved through nine proposals, and the final version resulted from his own research and numerous meetings with the Queen: a white silk dress embroidered with floral emblems of the countries of the Commonwealth at the time: the Tudor rose of England, Scottish thistle, Welsh leek, shamrock for Northern Ireland, wattle of Australia, maple leaf of Canada, the New Zealand silver fern, South Africa's protea, two lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's wheat, cotton and jute. Roger Vivier created a pair of gold pumps for the occasion. The shoe featured jewel-encrusted heels and decorative motif on the upper sides, which was meant to resemble "the fleurs-de-lis pattern on the St Edward's Crown and the Imperial State Crown". Elizabeth chose to wear the Coronation necklace for the event. The piece was commissioned by Queen Victoria and worn by Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth at their respective coronations. She paired it with the Coronation earrings.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Elizabeth rehearsed for the occasion with her maids of honour. A sheet was used in place of the velvet train, and a formation of chairs stood in for the carriage. She also wore the Imperial State Crown while going about her daily business – at her desk, during tea, and while reading a newspaper – so that she could become accustomed to its feel and weight. Elizabeth took part in two full rehearsals at Westminster Abbey, on 22 and 29 May, though some sources claim that she attended one or "several" rehearsals. The Duchess of Norfolk usually stood in for the Queen at rehearsals.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Elizabeth's grandmother Queen Mary had died on 24 March 1953, having stated in her will that her death should not affect the planning of the coronation, and the event went ahead as scheduled. It was estimated to cost £1.57 million (c£. in ), which included stands along the procession route to accommodate 96,000 people, lavatories, street decorations, outfits, car hire, repairs to the state coach, and alterations to the Queen's regalia.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: The coronation ceremony of Elizabeth II followed a pattern similar to the coronations of the kings and queens before her, being held in Westminster Abbey, and involving the peerage and clergy. However, for the new queen, several parts of the ceremony were markedly different.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Millions across Britain watched the coronation live on the BBC Television Service, and many purchased or rented television sets for the event. The coronation was the first to be televised in full; the BBC's cameras had not been allowed inside Westminster Abbey for her parents' coronation in 1937, and had covered only the procession outside. There had been considerable debate within the British Cabinet on the subject, with Prime Minister Winston Churchill against the idea; Elizabeth refused his advice on this matter and insisted the event take place before television cameras, as well as those filming with experimental 3D technology. The event was also filmed in colour, separately from the BBC's black and white television broadcast, where an average of 17 people watched each small TV.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Elizabeth's coronation was also the first major world event to be broadcast internationally on television.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: In Europe, thanks to new relay links, this was the first live broadcast of an event taking place in the United Kingdom. The coronation was broadcast in France, Belgium, West Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, marking the birth of Eurovision.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: To make sure Canadians could see it on the same day, RAF Canberras flew BBC film recordings of the ceremony across the Atlantic Ocean to be broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the first non-stop flights between the United Kingdom and the Canadian mainland. At Goose Bay, Labrador, the first batch of film was transferred to a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CF-100 jet fighter for the further trip to Montreal. In all, three such flights were made as the coronation proceeded, with the first and second Canberras taking the second and third batches of film, respectively, to Montreal. The following day, a film was flown west to Vancouver, whose CBC Television affiliate had yet to sign on. The film was escorted by the RCMP to the Peace Arch Border Crossing, where it was then escorted by the Washington State Patrol to Bellingham, where it was shown as the inaugural broadcast of KVOS-TV, a new station whose signal reached into the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, allowing viewers there to see the coronation as well, though on a one-day delay.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: US networks NBC and CBS made similar arrangements to have films flown in relays back to the United States for same-day broadcast, but used slower propeller-driven aircraft. NBC had originally planned to carry the event live via skywave direct from the BBC but was unable to establish a broadcast-quality video link on coronation day due to poor atmospheric conditions. The struggling ABC network arranged to re-transmit the CBC broadcast, taking the on-the-air signal from the CBC's Toronto station and feeding the network from WBEN-TV, Buffalo's lone television station at the time; as a result, ABC beat the other two networks to air by more than 90 minutes — and at considerably lower cost.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Although it did not as yet have a full-time television service, film was also dispatched to Australia aboard a Qantas airliner, which arrived in Sydney in a record time of 53 hours 28 minutes. The worldwide television audience for the coronation was estimated to be 277 million.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Along a route lined with sailors, soldiers, and airmen and women from across the British Empire and Commonwealth, guests and officials passed in a procession before about three million spectators that were gathered on the streets of London, some having camped overnight in their spot to ensure a view of the monarch, and others having access to specially built stands and scaffolding along the route. For those not present, more than 200 microphones were stationed along the path and in Westminster Abbey, with 750 commentators broadcasting in 39 languages.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: The procession included foreign royalty and heads of state riding to Westminster Abbey in various carriages, so many that volunteers ranging from wealthy businessmen to rural landowners were required to supplement the insufficient ranks of regular footmen. The first royal coach left Buckingham Palace and moved down the Mall, which was filled with flag-waving and cheering crowds. It was followed by the Irish State Coach carrying Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who wore the circlet of her crown bearing the Koh-i-Noor diamond. Queen Elizabeth II proceeded through London from Buckingham Palace, through Trafalgar Square, and towards the abbey in the Gold State Coach. Attached to the shoulders of her dress, the Queen wore the Robe of State, a long, hand woven silk velvet cloak lined with Canadian ermine that required the assistance of her maids of honour—Lady Jane Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Lady Anne Coke, Lady Moyra Hamilton, Lady Mary Baillie-Hamilton, Lady Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, Lady Rosemary Spencer-Churchill and the Duchess of Devonshire—to carry.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: The return procession followed a route that was in length, passing along Whitehall, across Trafalgar Square, along Pall Mall and Piccadilly to Hyde Park Corner, via Marble Arch and Oxford Circus, down Regent Street and Haymarket, and finally along the Mall to Buckingham Palace. 29,000 service personnel from Britain and across the Commonwealth marched in a procession that was long and took 45 minutes to pass any given point. A further 15,800 lined the route. The parade was led by Colonel Burrows of the War Office staff and four regimental bands. Then came the colonial contingents, then troops from the Commonwealth realms, followed by the Royal Air Force, the British Army, the Royal Navy, and finally the Household Brigade. Behind the marching troops was a carriage procession led by the rulers of the British protectorates, including Queen Sālote Tupou III of Tonga, the Commonwealth prime ministers, the princes and princesses of the blood royal, and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Preceded by the heads of the British Armed Forces on horseback, the Gold State Coach was escorted by the Yeomen of the Guard and the Household Cavalry and was followed by the Queen's aides-de-camp. So many carriages were required that some had to be borrowed from Elstree Studios.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: After the end of the procession, the royal family appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a flypast. The flypast had been altered on the day due to the bad weather, but otherwise took place as planned. 168 jet fighters flew overhead in three divisions thirty seconds apart, at an altitude of 1,500 feet.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: After being closed since the Queen's accession for coronation preparations, Westminster Abbey was opened at 6 am on Coronation Day to the approximately 8,000 guests invited from across the Commonwealth of Nations; more prominent individuals, such as members of the Queen's family and foreign royalty, the peers of the United Kingdom, heads of state, members of Parliament from the Queen's various legislatures, and the like, arrived after 8:30 a.m. Queen Sālote of Tonga was a guest, and was noted for her cheery demeanour while riding in an open carriage through London in the rain. General George Marshall, the former United States Secretary of State who implemented the Marshall Plan, was appointed chairman of the US delegation to the coronation and attended the ceremony along with his wife, Katherine.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Among other dignitaries who attended the event were Sir Winston Churchill, the prime ministers of India and Pakistan, Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammad Ali Bogra and Col Anastasio Somoza Debayle of Nicaragua.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Guests seated on stools were able to purchase their stools following the ceremony, with the profits going towards the cost of the coronation.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Preceding the Queen into Westminster Abbey was St Edward's Crown, carried into the abbey by the Lord High Steward of England, Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope, who was flanked by two other peers, while the archbishops and bishops assistant (Durham and Bath and Wells) of the Church of England, in their copes and mitres, waited outside the Great West Door for Queen Elizabeth II's arrival. When she arrived at about 11:00 am, she found that the friction between her robes and the carpet caused her difficulty moving forward, and she said to the archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, "Get me started!" Once going, the procession, which included the various high commissioners of the Commonwealth carrying banners bearing the shields of the coats of arms of their respective nations, moved inside the abbey, up the central aisle and through the choir to the stage, as the choirs sang "I was glad", an imperial setting of Psalm 122, vv. 1–3, 6, and 7 by Sir Hubert Parry. As Elizabeth prayed at and then seated herself on the Chair of Estate to the south of the altar, the bishops carried in the religious paraphernalia—the Bible, paten and chalice—and the peers holding the coronation regalia handed them over to the archbishop of Canterbury, who, in turn, passed them to the Dean of Westminster, Alan Campbell Don, to be placed on the altar.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: After she moved to stand before King Edward's Chair, Elizabeth turned, following as Fisher, along with the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (Lord Simonds), Lord Great Chamberlain of England (Lord Cholmondeley), Lord High Constable of England (Lord Alanbrooke) and Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (the Duke of Norfolk), all led by Garter Principal King of Arms George Bellew. The Archbishop of Canterbury asked the audience in each direction of the compass separately: "Sirs, I here present unto you Queen Elizabeth, your undoubted Queen: wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage and service, are you willing to do the same?" The crowd would reply "God save Queen Elizabeth!" every time, to each of which the Queen would curtsey in return.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Seated again on the Chair of Estate, Elizabeth then took the Coronation Oath as administered by the archbishop of Canterbury. In the lengthy oath, she swore to govern each of her countries according to their respective laws and customs, to mete out law and justice with mercy, to uphold Protestantism in the United Kingdom and protect the Church of England and preserve its bishops and clergy. She proceeded to the altar where she stated, "The things which I have here promised, I will perform, and keep. So help me God", before kissing the Bible and putting the royal sign-manual to the oath as the Bible was returned to the dean of Westminster. From him the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, James Pitt-Watson, took the Bible and presented it to Elizabeth again, saying,


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: The communion service was then conducted, involving prayers by both the clergy and Elizabeth, Fisher asking, "O God... Grant unto this thy servant Elizabeth, our Queen, the spirit of wisdom and government, that being devoted unto thee with her whole heart, she may so wisely govern, that in her time thy Church may be in safety, and Christian devotion may continue in peace", before reading various excerpts from the First Epistle of Peter, Psalms, and the Gospel of Matthew. Elizabeth was then anointed as the choir sang "Zadok the Priest"; the Queen's jewellery and crimson cape were removed by Lord Ancaster and the Mistress of the Robes, the Duchess of Devonshire and, wearing only a simple, white linen dress also designed by Hartnell to completely cover the coronation gown, she moved to be seated in King Edward's Chair. There, Fisher, assisted by the dean of Westminster, made a cross on her forehead, hands and breast with holy oil made from the same base as had been used in the coronation of her father. At her request, the anointing ceremony was not televised.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: From the altar, the dean passed to the lord great chamberlain the spurs, which were presented to Elizabeth and then placed back on the altar. The Sword of State was then handed to Elizabeth, who, after a prayer was uttered by Fisher, placed it herself on the altar, and the peer who had been previously holding it took it back again after paying a sum of 100 shillings. Elizabeth was then invested with the Armills (bracelets), Stole Royal, Robe Royal and the Sovereign's Orb, followed by the Queen's Ring, the Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross and the Sovereign's Sceptre with Dove. With the first two items on and in her right hand and the latter in her left, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned by the archbishop of Canterbury, with the crowd chanting "God save the queen!" three times at the exact moment St Edward's Crown touched the monarch's head. The princes and peers gathered then put on their coronets and a 21-gun salute was fired from the Tower of London.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: With the benediction read, Elizabeth moved to the throne and the archbishop of Canterbury and all the bishops offered to her their fealty, after which, while the choir sang, the peers of the United Kingdom—led by the royal peers: Elizabeth's husband; her uncle Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester; and her cousin Prince Edward, Duke of Kent—each proceeded, in order of precedence, to pay their personal homage and allegiance. After the royal peers, the 5 most senior peers, one for each rank, offered their fealty as representatives of the peerage of the United Kingdom: Norfolk for dukes, Huntly for marquesses, Shrewsbury for earls, Arbuthnott for viscounts and Mowbray for barons.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: When the last baron had completed this task, the assembly shouted "God save Queen Elizabeth. Long live Queen Elizabeth. May the Queen live for ever!" Having removed all her royal regalia, Elizabeth knelt and took the communion, including a general confession and absolution, and, along with the congregation, recited the Lord's Prayer.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Now wearing the Imperial State Crown and holding the Sceptre with the Cross and the Orb, and as the gathered guests sang "God Save the Queen", Elizabeth left Westminster Abbey through the nave and apse, out the Great West Door.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Although many had assumed that the Master of the Queen's Music, Sir Arnold Bax, would be the director of music for the coronation, it was decided instead to appoint the organist and master of the choristers at the abbey, William McKie, who had been in charge of music at the royal wedding in 1947. McKie convened an advisory committee with Sir Arnold Bax and Sir Ernest Bullock, who had directed the music for the previous coronation.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: When it came to choosing the music, tradition required that Handel's "Zadok the Priest" and Parry's "I was glad" were included amongst the anthems. Other choral works included were the anonymous 16th century anthem "Rejoice in the Lord alway" and Samuel Sebastian Wesley's "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace". Another tradition was that new works be commissioned from the leading composers of the day: Ralph Vaughan Williams composed a new motet "O Taste and See", William Walton composed a setting for the Te Deum, and the Canadian composer Healey Willan wrote an anthem "O Lord our Governor". Four new orchestral pieces were planned; Arthur Bliss composed "Processional"; Walton, "Orb and Sceptre"; and Arnold Bax, "Coronation March". Benjamin Britten had agreed to compose a piece, but he caught influenza and then had to deal with flooding at Aldeburgh, so nothing was forthcoming. Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D" was played immediately before Bax's march at the end of the ceremony. An innovation, at the suggestion of Vaughan Williams, was the inclusion of a hymn in which the congregation could participate. This proved controversial and was not included in the programme until Elizabeth had been consulted and found to be in favour; Vaughan Williams wrote an elaborate arrangement of the traditional metrical psalm, the "Old Hundredth", which included military trumpet fanfares and was sung before the communion. Gordon Jacob wrote a choral arrangement of "God Save the Queen", also with trumpet fanfares.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: The choir for the coronation was a combination of the choirs of Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral, the Chapel Royal, and Saint George's Chapel, Windsor. In addition to those established choirs, the Royal School of Church Music conducted auditions to find twenty boy trebles from parish church choirs representing the various regions of the United Kingdom. Along with twelve trebles chosen from various British cathedral choirs, the selected boys spent the month beforehand training at Addington Palace. The final complement of choristers comprised 182 boy trebles, 37 male altos, 62 tenors and 67 basses. The orchestra, of 60 players, was drawn from the leading members of British symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles. Each of the 18 violinists, headed by Paul Beard, was the leader of a major orchestra or chamber group. The conductor was Sir Adrian Boult, who had conducted the orchestra at the previous coronation.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: All across the Queen's realms, the rest of the Commonwealth, and in other parts of the world, coronation celebrations were held. The British government announced an extra bank holiday that fell on 3 June and moved the last bank holiday in May to 2 June to allow for an extended time of celebrations. The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal was also presented to thousands of recipients throughout the Queen's realms and in Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK, commemorative coins were issued. Three million bronze coronation medallions were ordered by the Canadian government, struck by the Royal Canadian Mint and distributed to schoolchildren across the country; the obverse showed Elizabeth's effigy and the reverse the royal cypher above the word "CANADA", all circumscribed by "ELIZABETH II REGINA CORONATA MCMLIII".


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: As at the coronation of George VI, acorns shed from oaks in Windsor Great Park, near Windsor Castle, were shipped around the Commonwealth and planted in parks, school grounds, cemeteries and private gardens to grow into what are known as "Royal Oaks" or "Coronation Oaks".


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: In London, the Queen hosted a coronation luncheon, for which the recipe coronation chicken was devised, and a fireworks show was mounted on Victoria Embankment. Further, street parties were mounted around the United Kingdom. The Coronation Cup football tournament was held at Hampden Park, Glasgow in May, and two weeks before the coronation, the children's literary magazine "Collins Magazine" rebranded itself as "The Young Elizabethan". News that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay had reached the summit of Mount Everest arrived in Britain on Elizabeth's coronation day; the New Zealand, American, and British media dubbed it "a coronation gift for the new Queen". In the following month, a pageant took place over the River Thames as a coronation tribute to the Queen.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Military tattoos, horse races, parades, and fireworks displays were mounted in Canada. The country's governor general, Vincent Massey, proclaimed the day a national holiday and presided over celebrations on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, where the Queen's coronation speech was broadcast and her personal royal standard flown from the Peace Tower. Later, a public concert was held on Parliament Hill and the Governor General hosted a ball at Rideau Hall. In Newfoundland, 90,000 boxes of sweets were given to children, some having theirs delivered by Royal Canadian Air Force drops, and in Quebec, 400,000 people turned out in Montreal, some 100,000 at Jeanne-Mance Park alone. A multicultural show was put on at Exhibition Place in Toronto, square dances and exhibitions took place in the Prairie provinces and in Vancouver the Chinese community performed a public lion dance. On the Korean Peninsula, Canadian soldiers serving in the Korean War acknowledged the day by firing red, white, and blue coloured smoke shells at the enemy and drank rum rations.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: On 15 June 1953, the Queen attended a fleet review at Spithead, off the coast at Portsmouth. Commanded by Admiral Sir George Creasy were 197 Royal Navy warships, together with 13 from the Commonwealth and 16 from foreign navies, as well as representative vessels from the British Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets. There were more British and Commonwealth naval ships present than at the 1937 coronation review, though a third of them were frigates or smaller vessels. Major Royal Navy units included Britain's last battleship, , and four fleet and three light aircraft carriers. The Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy also each included a light carrier in their contingents, and .


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: Using the frigate as a royal yacht, the Queen and royal family started to review the lines of anchored ships at 3:30 p.m., finally anchoring at 5:10 p.m. This was followed by a fly-past of Fleet Air Arm aircraft. Forty naval air squadrons participated, with 327 aircraft flying from four naval air stations; the formation was led by Rear Admiral Walter Couchman flying a de Havilland Sea Vampire. After the Queen transferred to "Vanguard" for dinner, the day concluded with the Illumination of the fleet and a fireworks display.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: During a week-long visit to Scotland, on 24 June 1953, the Queen attended a national service of thanksgiving at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, during which she was ceremonially presented with the Honours of Scotland, the Scottish crown jewels. Following a carriage procession through the city escorted by the Royal Company of Archers, the service, led by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, James Pitt-Watson, was attended by a congregation of 1,700 drawn from all sections of Scottish society. The high point of the event was the presentation of the Honours, which the queen received from the Dean of the Thistle, Charles Warr, and then passed the Crown of Scotland to the Duke of Hamilton, the Sword of State to the Earl of Home, and the Sceptre to the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres. It was the first time that this ceremony had been enacted since 1822 during the visit of King George IV.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: The queen was dressed in "day clothes" complete with a handbag, rather than in ceremonial robes, which was taken as a slight to Scotland's dignity by the Scottish press. The decision not to dress formally was made by the Private Secretary to the Sovereign, Sir Alan Lascelles, and Sir Austin Strutt, a senior civil servant at the Home Office. In the official painting of the ceremony by Stanley Cursiter, the offending handbag was tactfully omitted.


title: Coronation of Elizabeth II

text: On 15 July 1953, the Queen attended a review of the Royal Air Force at RAF Odiham in Hampshire. The first part of the review was a march past by contigents representing the various commands of the RAF, with Bomber Command leading. This was followed by four de Havilland Venoms of the Central Fighter Establishment making the Royal Cypher in skywriting. After lunch, the queen in an open car toured the lines of some 300 aircraft that were arranged in a static display. She returned to the central dias for the flypast of 640 British and Commonwealth aircraft, of which 440 were jet-powered. The flypast was led by a Bristol Sycamore helicopter which was towing a large RAF Ensign, while the final aircraft was a prototype Supermarine Swift flown by test pilot Mike Lithgow. Finally, the skywriting Venoms spelled out the word "vivat".


title: SPQR

text: SPQR, an abbreviation for (; ), is an emblematic abbreviated phrase referring to the government of the ancient Roman Republic. It appears on Roman currency, at the end of documents made public by an inscription in stone or metal, and in dedications of monuments and public and civil works.


title: SPQR

text: The full phrase appears in Roman political, legal, and historical literature, such as the speeches of Cicero and "Ab Urbe Condita Libri" ("Books from the Founding of the City") of Livy.


title: SPQR

text: In Latin, "Senātus" is a nominative singular noun meaning "Senate". "Populusque" is compounded from the nominative noun "Populus", "the People", and "-que", an enclitic particle meaning "and" which connects the two nominative nouns. The last word, "Rōmānus" ("Roman") is an adjective modifying the whole of "Senātus Populusque": the "Roman Senate and People", taken as a whole. Thus, the phrase is translated literally as "The Roman Senate and People", or more freely as "The Senate and People of Rome".


title: SPQR

text: The title's date of establishment is unknown, but it first appears in inscriptions of the Late Republic, from c. 80 BC onwards. Previously, the official name of the Roman state, as evidenced on coins, was simply "ROMA". The abbreviation last appears on coins of Constantine the Great (ruled 312–337 AD), the first Roman emperor to support Christianity.


title: SPQR

text: The two legal entities mentioned, "Senātus" and the "Populus Rōmānus", are sovereign when combined. However, where "populus" is sovereign alone, "Senātus" is not. Under the Roman Kingdom, neither entity was sovereign. The phrase, therefore, can be dated to no earlier than the foundation of the Republic.


title: SPQR

text: This signature continued in use under the Roman Empire. The emperors were considered the "de jure" representatives of the people even though the "senātūs consulta", or decrees of the Senate, were made at the "de facto" pleasure of the emperor.


title: SPQR

text: "Populus Rōmānus" in Roman literature is a phrase meaning the government of the People. When the Romans named governments of foreign states, they used "populus" in the singular or plural, such as "populī Prīscōrum Latīnōrum", "the governments of the Old Latins". "Rōmānus" is the established adjective used to distinguish the Romans, as in "cīvis Rōmānus", "Roman citizen".


title: SPQR

text: The Roman people appear very often in law and history in such phrases as "dignitās", "maiestās", "auctoritās", "lībertās populī Rōmānī", the "dignity, majesty, authority, freedom of the Roman people". They were a "populus līber", "a free people". There was an "exercitus, imperium, iudicia, honorēs, consulēs, voluntās" of this same "populus": "the army, rule, judgments, offices, consuls and will of the Roman people". They appear in early Latin as "Popolus" and "Poplus", so the habit of thinking of themselves as free and sovereign was quite ingrained.


title: SPQR

text: The Romans believed that all authority came from the people. It could be said that similar language seen in more modern political and social revolutions directly comes from this usage. People in this sense meant the whole government. The latter, however, was essentially divided into the aristocratic Senate, whose will was executed by the consuls and praetors, and the "comitia centuriāta", "committee of the centuries", whose will came to be safeguarded by the Tribunes.


title: SPQR

text: One of the ways the emperor Commodus (180–192) paid for his donatives and mass entertainments was to tax the senatorial order, and on many inscriptions, the traditional order is provocatively reversed ("Populus Senatusque...").


title: SPQR

text: Beginning in 1184, the Commune of Rome struck coins in the name of the SENATVS P Q R. From 1414 until 1517, the Roman Senate struck coins with a shield inscribed SPQR.


title: SPQR

text: During the regime of Benito Mussolini, SPQR was emblazoned on a number of public buildings and manhole covers in an attempt to promote his dictatorship as a "New Roman Empire".


title: SPQR

text: Even in contemporary usage, SPQR is still used in the municipal coat of arms of Rome and as abbreviation for the comune of Rome in official documents. The Italians have long used a different and humorous expansion of this abbreviation, ""Sono Pazzi Questi Romani"" (literally: "They're crazy, these Romans"). SPQR is also part of the coat of arms of the Capital Military Command of the Italian army (Italian: "Comando Militare Capirale").


title: SPQR

text: In business, in English-speaking countries, SPQR is sometimes (humorously) used to mean "Small Profits, Quick Returns", often by people who have studied Latin at school.


title: SPQR

text: "SPQ" is sometimes used as an assertion of municipal pride and civic rights. The Italian town of Reggio Emilia, for instance, has SPQR in its coat of arms, standing for . There have been confirmed usages and reports of the deployment of the "SPQ" template in;


title: SPQR

text: SPQR is often used to represent the Roman Empire and Roman Republic, such as in video games and movies.


title: SPQR

text: In the 2000 movie "Gladiator", the Roman general Maximus (portrayed by Russell Crowe) has "SPQR" tattooed on his shoulder, which he removes by scraping after he is sold into slavery.


title: SPQR

text: Some members of white nationalist groups use the abbreviation SPQR on flags, on their person (such as tattoos) and other forms of identification. However, the Anti-Defamation League does not include SPQR in its hate symbol database, and the organization's Mark Pitcavage said that the abbreviation is used "just as much or more often by nonextremists than extremists".


title: Mary Cheney

text: Mary Claire Cheney (; born March 14, 1969) is the younger of the two daughters of Dick Cheney, the 46th vice president of the United States and 17th United States secretary of defense, and Lynne Cheney. She is involved with a number of political action committees. She married her wife, Heather Poe, in 2012, and in 2013 was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the "Hollingsworth v. Perry" case.


title: Mary Cheney

text: Cheney was born in Madison, Wisconsin. She attended McLean High School in McLean, Virginia, graduating in the class of 1987. Following that, she attended Colorado College, her mother and sister's alma mater, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and graduated in 1991. She earned a graduate business degree from the University of Denver in 2002.


title: Mary Cheney

text: In 1993, she became one of the first employees of the Colorado Rockies baseball team, working in promotions when the team began playing in Denver; thereafter, she was a public relations manager for the Coors Brewing Company, and worked as a gay outreach coordinator, helping to end a national gay boycott of Coors.


title: Mary Cheney

text: She has been one of her father's top campaign aides and closest confidantes. In July 2003, she became the Director of Vice Presidential Operations for the Bush-Cheney presidential re-election campaign in 2004.


title: Mary Cheney

text: Cheney has voiced support for same-sex marriage, and has been credited with encouraging her father's approval of it, which he has publicly supported since leaving the vice presidency.


title: Mary Cheney

text: In December 2006, Mary Cheney was reported to be pregnant. She and Poe were said to be "ecstatic" about the baby. "The vice president and Mrs. Cheney are looking forward with eager anticipation to the arrival of their sixth grandchild," spokesperson Lea Anne McBride said on December 5.


title: Mary Cheney

text: On January 31, 2007, in a forum by "Glamour Magazine" at Barnard College of Columbia University, Mary Cheney stated that: "This is a baby... This is a blessing from God. It is not a political statement. It is not a prop to be used in a debate by people on either side of an issue. It is my child." She gave birth to her first child, a son, in May 2007.


title: Mary Cheney

text: Cynthia Leive, editor in chief of "Glamour", asked Cheney if she had anything to say to critics like James Dobson, who has denounced same-sex marriage and LGBT people raising children. Cheney accused Dobson of distorting the research he cited, and added: "Every piece of remotely responsible research that has been done in the last 20 years has shown there is no difference between children raised by same-sex parents and children raised by opposite-sex parents; what matters is being raised in a stable, loving environment." She also said that Dobson was entitled to his opinion, "but he's not someone whose endorsement I have ever drastically sought".


title: Mary Cheney

text: Cheney gave birth to her second child, a daughter, on November 18, 2009. Cheney and Poe were married on June 22, 2012, in Washington, D.C. The family resides in Great Falls, Virginia.


title: Mary Cheney

text: In 2013, Mary Cheney's older sister Liz, who was running for a Senate seat in Wyoming, stated during an interview on "Fox News Sunday" that she did not support same-sex marriage. In response, Mary Cheney denounced her sister's remarks, writing in a Facebook post, "Either You think all families should be treated equally or you don't. Liz's position is to treat my family as second class citizens." Mary subsequently said she would not support her sister's candidacy and would boycott visiting the rest of the Cheney family for Christmas that year.


title: Mary Cheney

text: In 2013, her wife Heather Poe wrote a Facebook post stating, "Liz has been a guest in our home, has spent time and shared holidays with our children, and when Mary and I got married in 2012 – she didn't hesitate to tell us how happy she was for us. To have her now say she doesn't support our right to marry is offensive to say the least."


title: Mary Cheney

text: In 2015, when asked if she and her sister had mended their relationship, Mary Cheney said, "I don't have to answer that." However, in 2021, Liz told "60 Minutes" they had reconciled after she admitted to Mary that she had been wrong in her views on same-sex marriage.


title: Mary Cheney

text: In 2000, the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign freely discussed Liz Cheney's marriage and children, but were silent about Mary Cheney's private life. Nevertheless, Cheney's sexual orientation was publicly known, and some considered her presence during the campaign as bolstering, providing the Republican ticket with a "compassionate conservative" image. During an interview with Lynne Cheney, Cokie Roberts brought up the topic of Mary Cheney's having declared herself gay. Lynne Cheney responded by stating that "Mary has never declared such a thing", and criticized Roberts and the media for their interest in the story.


title: Mary Cheney

text: In 2002, Mary Cheney joined the Republican gay-straight alliance Republican Unity Coalition and said that sexual orientation should be "a non-issue" for the Republican Party. Cheney resigned from the RUC's board and in July 2003 became the director of vice presidential operations for the Bush-Cheney 2004 re-election campaign.


title: Mary Cheney

text: In 2004, public attention focused again on Cheney's sexuality, when the Bush administration supported the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would limit marriage to heterosexual couples and ban civil unions and domestic partnership benefits. Cheney did not publicly express her opinion of the amendment at the time. In her 2006 autobiography "Now It's My Turn", Cheney stated her opposition to the amendment. However, at the time, she remained silent to support Bush's re-election bid. In August 2004, Dick Cheney reiterated the position he took in the 2000 presidential campaign: that the issue should be handled by individual state governments. He added, though, that President Bush determined his administration's policies, and his policy supported the Federal Marriage Amendment.


title: Mary Cheney

text: During the 2004 Bush-Cheney presidential re-election campaign, Cheney served as her father's director of vice presidential operations, which led to discussion of her sexual orientation making its way into the media again.


title: Mary Cheney

text: The 2004 presidential election debates included mentions of the same-sex marriage debate and referred, initially indirectly, to Cheney. Both Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and vice-presidential candidate John Edwards mentioned and praised Cheney's openness with regard to her sexual orientation when questioned regarding LGBT issues.


title: Mary Cheney

text: During the Cheney-Edwards vice-presidential debate, moderator Gwen Ifill directed a question to the Vice President in which his daughter was indirectly mentioned:


title: Mary Cheney

text: Cheney reiterated his position of four years prior, stating the issue should be left to the states but that he supports the Bush administration. He did not mention his family nor his daughter in his immediate response to the question. In his response, Edwards said:


title: Mary Cheney

text: Although he was given 90 seconds to respond to Edwards' comments, Cheney responded succinctly, "Well, Gwen, let me simply thank the senator for the kind words he said about my family and our daughter. I appreciate that very much." Ifill followed up: "That's it?" Cheney replied, "That's it", effectively ending the discussion of his daughter's sexual orientation. At the end of the debate, Mary Cheney appeared on the podium with her partner and the rest of the family.


title: Mary Cheney

text: During the third and final Bush-Kerry presidential debate, moderator Bob Schieffer asked, "Do you believe homosexuality is a choice?" to which Kerry replied, "If you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as." In response, Dick Cheney stated, "You saw a man who will say and do anything in order to get elected. And I am not just speaking as a father here, though I am a pretty angry father."


title: Mary Cheney

text: In 2010, Mary Cheney became involved in a network of politically active nonprofit organizations. The network is illustrated in this reference: According to tax forms filed with the Internal Revenue Service, Cheney is a member of the BKM Strategies consulting firm. In 2010, Cheney and two other Republican consultants, Barry Bennett and Kara Ahern, started two nonprofits in the office of BKM Strategies: The Alliance for Freedom and the Alliance for America's Future. In the same year, Cheney and Kara Ahern established a Super PAC, Partnership for America's Future, which is not currently active.


title: Mary Cheney

text: In 2014, Cheney's consulting firm BKM Strategies was apparently responsible for a writing campaign in support of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Of the nearly 125,000 comments filed with the U.S. State Department, at least 98,000 contained similar pro-pipeline language and came from individuals listing BKM Strategies as the originating organization, according to the nonprofit Sunlight Foundation.


title: Mary Cheney

text: Mary Cheney left the public spotlight after the 2004 election until May 4, 2006, when she was interviewed by Diane Sawyer for ABC News' "Primetime" program to promote her autobiography, "Now It's My Turn". In the book, published in 2006, Cheney discusses how she came out to her parents, recounting her father's initial reaction: "You know, look, you're my daughter and I love you and I just want you to be happy." She also discusses her relationship with her partner, Heather Poe.


title: Mary Cheney

text: Gay rights advocates criticized her for waiting until after the 2004 election to voice her disapproval of the Bush administration's positions on gay rights. During another appearance by Cheney on May 19, 2006, on the "Late Show with David Letterman", David Letterman brought up some of the issues raised by the gay community. He asked Cheney why she had waited two years after the 2004 election to speak publicly about gay marriage and LGBT rights, and asked whether she had any input with the Bush administration regarding gay issues. Cheney responded that she did not, and that it had not been her job to do so.


title: Mary Cheney

text: Actress Alison Pill portrayed Mary Cheney in the 2018 film "Vice", a biographical film about Dick Cheney in which Mary's sexuality is cited as her father's reason for not running for president, because he is portrayed as wanting to protect her from attacks by his opponents in the Republican primaries. Neither Dick nor Mary Cheney provided comments on whether this or other depictions regarding them in the film were accurate.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: The 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 65th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. The original calendar for the 2011 Formula One World Championship consisted of twenty rounds, including the inaugural running of the Indian Grand Prix before the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Pirelli returned to the sport as tyre supplier for all teams, taking over from Bridgestone, marking their return to Formula One for the first time since the 1991 season. Red Bull Racing was the reigning Constructors' Champion. Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel was the defending Drivers' Champion, one of five World Champions appearing on the grid. Vettel won his second World Championship at the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix, becoming the youngest driver, at 24 years and 98 days, to do so. Red Bull Racing won the Constructors' Championship.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: After a dispute between the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) and the FIA in the first half of , a new Concorde Agreement was signed on 1 August 2009 by the then FIA president Max Mosley and all of the existing teams at the time. The new agreement provides for a continuation of the terms of the 1998 agreement, and runs until 31 December 2012. The FIA published a provisional entry list on 30 November 2010, which was revised on 2 December 2010. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Following USF1's inability to make the grid in , the FIA opened a new selection process to find an additional team to occupy the empty slot, as well as possible reserve entrants for the event of other withdrawals. Fifteen entry bids were reported to have been received, including ART Grand Prix, winners of several championships in feeder series; previous 2010 applicants Stefan Grand Prix and World Series by Renault team Epsilon Euskadi; and a joint effort by World Champion Jacques Villeneuve with Durango, the former Italian GP2 team that had encountered financial difficulties. However, the number of applicants declined, as ART Grand Prix and Cypher, the renamed USF1 operation, withdrew their entries, and the FIA decided ahead of the 2010 Italian Grand Prix that none of the prospective entrants met the minimum funding or engineering requirements, leaving the grid slot vacant.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Following the confirmation that there would be no new additions to the grid for 2011, Joan Villadelprat of Epsilon Euskadi and Jacques Villeneuve of the combined Villeneuve-Durango teams both announced that they would still attempt to join the grid for 2011, exploring the possibilities of taking over an existing team. Villeneuve later admitted to considering possibilities outside of Formula One, including extending his NASCAR Nationwide Series campaign, or moving to Australia to pursue opportunities in the V8 Supercars.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: On 16 April 2010, Bernie Ecclestone confirmed that there would be twenty races in 2011; all the races from the 2010 season and the addition of the Indian Grand Prix. A provisional calendar was announced on 8 September 2010, which was confirmed on 3 November 2010. This was later revised to nineteen races with the postponement and later cancellation of the .


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: The pre-season testing season began immediately after the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a three-day 'Young Driver Test' (for drivers with fewer than three Formula One race starts to their name) at the Yas Marina Circuit. Formula Renault 3.5 runner-up Daniel Ricciardo consistently set the fastest times over the three days, driving for new champions Red Bull Racing.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: The Young Driver Tests were followed by another testing session – also held at Yas Marina – for the teams to test the tyres developed by new tyre supplier Pirelli. Ferrari's Felipe Massa was the fastest during the tests, with many drivers declaring their satisfaction with the new tyres, particularly given Pirelli's short development window. Sebastian Vettel experienced an explosive puncture on the final day, though an investigation by Pirelli attributed the incident to debris on the circuit rather than a critical error with the build of the tyre.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: The final test of the season was originally scheduled to be held in Bahrain, but was cancelled by the Bahraini Crown Prince due to a political uprising in the island nation. It was instead rescheduled to the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona from 8–12 March.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel won the opening race of the season in Melbourne after qualifying on pole position by eight-tenths of a second. Lewis Hamilton finished in second place, and Russian driver Vitaly Petrov attained his maiden podium in third, with Renault hailing his dramatic off-season turn-around after a difficult debut season in 2010. At the opposite end of the grid, the Hispania F111 cars driven by Narain Karthikeyan and Vitantonio Liuzzi both failed to qualify as their qualifying times were both outside 107% of Vettel's fastest time in the first qualifying session. The Saubers of Sergio Pérez and Kamui Kobayashi were disqualified for a technical infringement when their cars failed a post-race scrutineering inspection.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Vettel continued his title defence in Malaysia, taking pole from Hamilton in the dying moments of the session by just one tenth of a second. Vettel went on to win the race by three seconds from Jenson Button, who also claimed second place in the points standings; with two wins, Vettel left Malaysia with twice as many points as the McLaren driver. Nick Heidfeld took Renault's second successive podium and Fernando Alonso made a mistake, making contact with Lewis Hamilton and forcing him to pit for a new front wing, and costing him a potential podium. Hamilton himself slipped down the order after changing to the harder prime tyres and struggling with grip.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Vettel once again took pole in China, whilst teammate Webber made a poor tyre choice and was eliminated from the first qualifying period for the first time since the 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix. Vettel made a poor start in the race and was quickly overcome by the McLarens of Button and Hamilton. Button and Vettel pitted together, but Button made a bizarre mistake, mistakenly pulling up in the Red Bull pits, and allowing Vettel to get back out onto the circuit in front of him. The lead changed several times as the race progressed before Vettel settled into position, but on deteriorating tyres, he was caught and passed by Hamilton four laps from the end. Having started in eighteenth position, Mark Webber recovered to achieve the third podium place.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Sebastian Vettel earned his fourth pole of the season in Turkey, becoming the first person to start the first four races on pole since Mika Häkkinen in . Vettel led the race from the lights to the flag, ahead of Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso, who gained Ferrari's first podium finish of the year. McLaren struggled with a series of slow pit stops, whilst the promise shown by Mercedes in qualifying was lost in the race when their cars were fuel-heavy and running on the harder prime tyre compound.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Mark Webber ended Vettel's run of consecutive pole positions at the Spanish Grand Prix, but it was fourth-starting Fernando Alonso that led the field into the first corner and through much of the early phase of the race. He was eventually overtaken in the pits by Vettel, and slipped down the order to finish a lap behind as Ferrari struggled with Pirelli's brand-new "extra hard" compound, which was specifically designed for endurance, but was two seconds per lap slower than the softer compounds used. Vettel went on to win the race, but Red Bull's one-second advantage in qualifying was gone by the race as Lewis Hamilton spent most of the final stint within one second of the lead. After making a poor start and slipping down to tenth place, Jenson Button used a three-stop strategy to recover to third place.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: The was marred by a string of accidents throughout the weekend that saw two drivers hospitalised; Sergio Pérez crashed heavily at the Nouvelle Chicane in the final qualifying period and suffered a concussion, while Vitaly Petrov was briefly knocked unconscious in a five-car pile-up late in the race that saw the red flags waved and the race stopped for the first time since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel achieved both pole position and the race win ahead of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, who had been rapidly catching the race leaders at the time of the race stoppage.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Vettel took his sixth pole of the season in Montreal, with the race severely affected by rain. The early stages of the race saw Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton collide on the pit straight, and Button earning a drive-through penalty for speeding behind the safety car after it was deployed to retrieve the stricken McLaren of Hamilton. On lap twenty-five, the race was stopped for two hours in the face of a torrential downpour that made the circuit undriveable. When the race was finally resumed, a narrow dry line began to appear around the circuit, and Button began to work his way through the field, having run as low as twenty-first and last place after his penalty. With four laps to go, Button had passed Mark Webber and Michael Schumacher for second place and was catching Vettel at a rate that meant he would only catch the championship leader on the final lap. Vettel ran wide and off the dry line of the final lap of the race, handing Button the race win. Schumacher matched his best race result since returning to the sport, with a fourth place. At Sauber, Sergio Pérez elected not to compete after reporting that he felt unwell during the first practice session, and he was replaced by Pedro de la Rosa.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Pirelli's medium-compound tyre made its race debut in Valencia, which once again saw Vettel on pole. There was much speculation about the potential for the field to be shaken up by the introduction of engine mapping bans, but the reigning champion led for most of the race, ceding the lead only when called in to pit. He comfortably gained his sixth victory of the season when the leaders moved onto the medium compound tyres, with second-placed Fernando Alonso demonstrating that the Ferrari 150º Italia was unable to use the medium tyres as efficiently as the Red Bull RB7. With all twenty-four cars finishing the race, Hispania Racing's Narain Karthikeyan became the first man in the sport's history to finish a Grand Prix in twenty-fourth position as the race broke the record for the most classified finishers; the 2011 Chinese Grand Prix had previously seen twenty-three classified finishers.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Uncertainty over rule changes and exemptions concerning the use of off-throttle blown diffusers dominated off-track discussion at the British Grand Prix, though consensus within the media was that the issue did not directly affect the sport. Mark Webber started from pole position in the race; however, Sebastian Vettel took the lead on the first lap. A mistake from Red Bull Racing in the pits allowed Fernando Alonso to take control of the race, which he went on to win by sixteen seconds, his first victory since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix. Webber caught Vettel in the dying stages of the race, but was given a late team order to maintain his position, and the Australian finished third behind his teammate. Felipe Massa was similarly catching Lewis Hamilton, whose progress had been hampered by an order to conserve fuel, for fourth position and the two made contact in the penultimate corner on the last lap, forcing Massa to run wide over the finish line. Jenson Button fell from second to fifth place in the championship when a wheel nut was improperly attached to his car during his final stop, forcing his retirement from the race.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Webber achieved his second successive pole position in Germany, while Hamilton denied Red Bull a front-row lock-out by qualifying second. Vettel was third, the first time he had qualified outside the front row since the 2010 Italian Grand Prix almost one year previously. Hamilton took the lead going into the first corner of the race, and the early stages of the Grand Prix were marked by the drivers attempting to find grip on an unusually cold circuit. As Hamilton, Alonso and Webber pulled away, Vettel struggled to match their pace following a spin at turn ten. Michael Schumacher had an identical episode at the same corner a few laps later, whilst Sébastien Buemi and Nick Heidfeld collided at the chicane, ending Heidfeld's race. There were multiple lead changes between Hamilton, Webber and Alonso, with Hamilton capitalising on a slow in-lap by Alonso and a strategy error from Red Bull to secure victory. Alonso placed second, with Webber third, while Sebastian Vettel stole fourth away from Felipe Massa when the two drivers pitted on the final lap.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Vettel returned to pole position in Hungary; however, Lewis Hamilton qualified second and was able to save an extra set of softer option tyres for the race. After mixed conditions wreaked havoc in the support races, the Grand Prix started with a wet surface. Vettel established an early lead, but was soon passed by Hamilton and Jenson Button as a dry line appeared. The positions remained constant through the halfway point of the race while Team Lotus experienced their second double-retirement in three races and Nick Heidfeld's Renault exploded after a prolonged pit stop. A mid-race shower on the fortieth lap led to Hamilton spinning, forcing Force India's Paul di Resta off the circuit and allowing Button to close the gap. The two McLaren drivers traded places several times in the greasy conditions, with Hamilton leading long enough to give him the first strategy call within the team. He opted to swap to the intermediate tyres, but the track started to dry out and he was given a drive-through penalty for forcing di Resta off the circuit, taking him out of contention for a podium finish. Jenson Button went on to win the race, his 200th Grand Prix start and the scene of his maiden victory ahead of Vettel in second and Fernando Alonso. Hamilton recovered from his penalty to take fourth position from Mark Webber, whilst Felipe Massa – who had out-qualified Alonso for the first time since the 2010 Belgian Grand Prix – was the final car classified on the lead lap in sixth place.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: The marked twenty years since Michael Schumacher's Formula One debut, but Schumacher had a difficult start to the weekend when he lost a wheel on his out-lap in qualifying, sending him to the back of the grid. Bruno Senna replaced Nick Heidfeld at Renault, qualifying seventh in variable conditions on his return to Formula One. However, his success was short-lived when he crashed into Jaime Alguersuari on the first lap, ending Alguersuari's race and earning himself a penalty. Nico Rosberg led the early stages of the race, but was powerless to defend against Sebastian Vettel once the DRS was activated. The lead changed several times in the first half of the race, but Vettel eventually established a comfortable lead and would remain unchallenged. With Vettel winning the race and Webber finishing second, Red Bull secured their first one-two victory since Istanbul. Despite leading the race at one point, Fernando Alonso struggled with his tyres, and slipped down the running order, being passed by Mark Webber and Jenson Button, who had recovered from thirteenth on the grid. Michael Schumacher also recovered; having started twenty-fourth on the grid, he was fifth at the end of the race, behind Alonso and ahead of Rosberg. Lewis Hamilton crashed out of the race early on, making contact with Kamui Kobayashi at Les Combes. Both Senna and Hamilton admitted responsibility for their respective incidents.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: At the , Vettel took once again pole position, beating Hamilton by half a second, but it was the fourth-starting Fernando Alonso who led the race going into the first corner. Vitantonio Liuzzi made contact with Kovalainen and lost control, sliding off the grass and crashing heavily into Rosberg and Petrov and triggering the safety car. Vettel took the lead from Alonso one lap after the restart, while Schumacher overtook Hamilton. Mark Webber attempted to pass Felipe Massa, but the two made contact, pitching Massa into a spin. Webber continued with a broken front wing, crashing at Parabolica as he attempted to return to pit. Further down the order, Schumacher received several carefully worded instructions from team principal Ross Brawn, reminding him not to cut across the track to defend against Hamilton. Schumacher's duel with Hamilton slowed them down enough for Jenson Button to catch up; where Hamilton took thirty laps to pass Schumacher, Button passed him on his first attempt and started catching the second-placed Alonso. Vettel went on to win the race, extending his lead enough that he would need just one more win to win his second World Championship. Webber's failure to finish meant that he fell to fourth in the drivers' standings, behind Alonso and Button, while Hamilton's fourth place meant he fell further behind in the championship.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Sebastian Vettel obtained his eleventh pole of the season in Singapore, and spent most of the race unchallenged. Jenson Button attempted a late push, but was held up by traffic in the final laps of the race and fell behind. Button's podium meant that the championship would remain unresolved for the time being, but with his ninth victory of the season, Sebastian Vettel closed to within one point of securing his second World Drivers' Championship and becoming the sport's youngest-ever double World Champion. Mark Webber completed the podium in third, while Fernando Alonso finished fourth, over a minute behind Vettel. An early collision with Felipe Massa meant Lewis Hamilton was handed a drive-through penalty – his sixth of the season – and slipped out of the points, but a mid-race safety car for a collision involving Michael Schumacher and Sergio Pérez helped Hamilton recover to fifth. However, the result meant that Webber, Alonso and Hamilton were all eliminated from the championship fight.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: The championship came to a head in Japan, with Sebastian Vettel out-qualifying championship rival Jenson Button by just nine thousandths of a second. Vettel forced Button wide at the start, but the McLaren driver was able to recover, under-cutting Vettel in the pits during the second round of stops. Button went on to win the race, his third victory of the season, while Fernando Alonso finished second. Vettel completed the podium, securing his second World Drivers' Championship. Mark Webber finished the race fourth, with Lewis Hamilton fifth and Michael Schumacher defending from Felipe Massa to finish sixth. Nico Rosberg secured the final World Championship point in by finishing tenth, having started twenty-third on the grid.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Lewis Hamilton and McLaren ended Red Bull's monopoly on pole position at the Korean Grand Prix, with Hamilton edging out Champion-elect Vettel by two-tenths of a second. Vettel seized the lead early in the race, and remained unthreatened for the rest of the race. Hamilton engaged in a race-long duel with Mark Webber, with the Australian following an unusual strategy choice. He was unable to pass Hamilton, who collected his first podium position since his victory in the German Grand Prix. Jenson Button finished the race fourth ahead of Fernando Alonso. In finishing first and third, Red Bull secured their second consecutive World Constructors' Championship.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Vettel claimed his first "Grand Chelem" at the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, claiming pole position, the fastest lap and leading every lap of the race. The race saw several incidents on the first lap, with contact between several drivers at the first corner, and again at Turn 3. Jenson Button tightened his grasp on second place in the championship, finishing eight seconds behind Vettel, whilst Fernando Alonso completed the podium ahead of Mark Webber. Lewis Hamilton fell further behind after making contact with Felipe Massa at the halfway point, the third time the two had come together in four races. Narain Karthikeyan became the first Indian driver to compete in the Indian Grand Prix, finishing seventeenth ahead of Hispania teammate Daniel Ricciardo and Jarno Trulli, a victim of the first-lap contact.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: Sebastian Vettel equalled Nigel Mansell's record of fourteen pole positions in a season when he was fastest in qualifying at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Vettel however – despite maintaining the lead into the first corner – spun off at Turn 2 with a right rear puncture. He pitted at the end of the lap and had to retire with suspension damage. Hamilton led the whole race, except the pit stop phases, and won the race ahead of Fernando Alonso and teammate Jenson Button. This meant that Red Bull's podium streak came to an end, despite Webber finishing fourth.


title: 2011 Formula One World Championship

text: At the final race of the season in Brazil, Vettel broke Mansell's record for most pole positions in a season, taking his fifteenth. Webber emerged victorious, scoring his first race win since the 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix. Hamilton retired on lap 48 with a gearbox problem, joining Pastor Maldonado, Timo Glock, and later Vitantonio Liuzzi on the list of race retirements. Felipe Massa, finishing fifth in his home race, became the first Ferrari driver since Ivan Capelli in who failed to finish on the podium all season. Meanwhile, Paul di Resta finished the season as the best rookie in 13th place for Force India.


title: Gears of War

text: Gears of War is a media franchise centered on a series of video games created by Epic Games, developed and managed by The Coalition, and owned and published by Xbox Game Studios. The franchise is best known for its third-person shooter video games, which has been supplemented by spin-off video game titles, a DC comic book series, seven novels, a board game adaptation and various merchandise.


title: Gears of War

text: The original trilogy focuses on the conflict between humanity and the subterranean reptilian hominids known as the Locust Horde on the world of Sera. The first installment, "Gears of War", was released on November 7, 2006 for the Xbox 360. The game follows protagonist Marcus Fenix, a soldier in the Coalition of Ordered Governments tasked to lead a last-ditch effort to destroy the Locust Horde and save humanity. Two subsequent titles, "Gears of War 2" (2008) and "Gears of War 3" (2011), featured a three-way conflict between humanity, the Locust Horde and their mutated counterparts, the Lambent. "", a spin-off prequel to the series' first title, was released in 2013; it focuses on Damon Baird, one of Fenix's squad-mates. "" was released for the Xbox One and Microsoft Windows between August 2015 to March 2016. The fourth installment in the main series, "Gears of War 4", is set 25 years after "Gears of War 3" and follows Marcus Fenix's son, JD and his friends as they battle security forces deployed by a totalitarian COG government as well as the Swarm, a reconstituted version of the Locust Horde that once again threatens humanity. "Gears 5" (2019) is the direct sequel to "Gears of War 4" and revolves around Kait Diaz, a friend of JD, who embarks on a quest to learn the truth about her past and the connections between her heritage and the Locust Horde.


title: Gears of War

text: "Gears of War" was developed by Epic Games. Cliff Bleszinski, who has previously worked on Epic's "Unreal Tournament" games, served as the series' lead game designer for the first three installments. He was inspired by gameplay elements from "Resident Evil 4", "Kill Switch", and "Bionic Commando". The series was guided by Rod Fergusson, the executive producer and director of development of Epic Games until 2012. The first four installments of the "Gears of War" series used a modified version of the Unreal Engine 3 engine. In January 2014, Microsoft acquired rights to the franchise from Epic Games. Canadian studio The Coalition developed "Gears of War 4", which was released on October 11, 2016 for the Xbox One and Windows 10. A sequel, "Gears 5", was released in September 2019. All six installments in "Gears of War" featured several multiplayer modes that allowed players to compete against each other or team-up to battle AI opponents on Xbox Live.


title: Gears of War

text: "Gears of War" became one of the best-selling franchises for the Xbox 360. The series puts emphasis on cover-based combat, in which players can use objects to avoid gunfire or safely engage enemies. The "Gears of War" games have been amongst the most popular and most played titles on Xbox Live.


title: Gears of War

text: The "Gears of War" series takes place on Sera, a fictional Earth-like planet. Human civilization develops on Sera and endures a millennia-long conflict that leaves humanity on the brink of extinction. Sera's leaders broker an era of peace that ushers an era of scientific advancements and a cultural renaissance. Humanity's population sporadically grows and demands more energy provided by fossil and nuclear fuels. Sera's scientists discover imulsion, a naturally occurring substance that can be refined into a potent energy source. Imulsion solves Sera's energy crisis but ultimately creates great economic disparity. Nations with direct access to Imulsion prosper, while other nations fall into financial turmoil.


title: Gears of War

text: Sera's citizens balkanize into two warring factions: the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) and Union of Independent Republics (UIR). The ensuing 79-year strife, known as the Pendulum Wars, consumes millions of lives with both sides locked in a virtual stalemate. The UIR develops the 'Hammer of Dawn', a system of satellites capable of delivering precise and potent orbital-to-surface laser strikes. A contingent of COG commandos, led by Marcus Fenix, Dominic Santiago, and Victor Hoffman launch a daring raid on a UIR stronghold and steal the schematics for the Hammer of Dawn. The UIR surrenders after witnessing the Hammer of Dawn devastate one of their naval vessels after being completed by Marcus Fenix's father, scientist Adam Fenix.


title: Gears of War

text: Six weeks after the COG and UIR agreed to an armistice, a race of creatures known as the Locust Horde emerge from Sera's depths and begin assaulting human cities, wiping out 25% of the world population in the first 26 hours. The Locust Horde overwhelms the already battleworn COG forces during this surprise attack, referred to as 'Emergence Day'. The COG retreats to cities located on the Jacinto Plateau, their last bastion where the Locust cannot dig through, and reluctantly bombard their own cities with the Hammer of Dawn to halt the Locust Horde's offensive. The ensuing scorched earth tactic destroys much of Sera's cities and human population. The COG continues to operate out of the capital city of Ephyra and cities on the plateau such as Jacinto, while the surviving humans, known as Stranded, are left to wander through Sera's charred ruins.


title: Gears of War

text: Five years after Emergence Day, the Locust reemerge and begin a campaign of occupying human cities located on the Jacinto Plateau to act as stepping stones in order to destroy Ephyra. The Locust are able to emerge and overrun the COG capital of Ephyra ten years after Emergence Day. During the chaos, Marcus Fenix leads an unauthorized mission to save his father, Adam, from the Locust assault. A helicopter is shot down by the Locust Horde and crash-lands into the Fenix estate, presumably killing Adam Fenix. The COG's leadership court martials Marcus and sentences him to life imprisonment. After losing Ephyra, the remainder of the COG retreats to Jacinto City, which resides on the edge of the plateau against an ocean.


title: Gears of War

text: "Gears of War" is set fourteen years after the Locust emerged and attacked Sera's human population. The COG forces devise a last-ditch offensive to destroy the Locust Horde with the Lightmass Bomb, a weaponized form of Imulsion. Marcus Fenix, now a disgraced veteran, is reinstated into the COG army four years after imprisonment to supplement the COG's depleted ranks. Marcus joins his best friend, Dominic Santiago, on a mission to map the Locust Horde's tunnel network in preparation for the bombing. Their unit is ambushed by Locust Ground forces and sustain heavy casualties. Fenix and Santiago regroup with two other survivors, Augustus Cole and Damon Baird, and continue their mission. Marcus prevails in mapping and successfully deploying the Lightmass Bomb and crippling the Locust Horde. The Locust Queen Myrrah pledges to continue the war effort.


title: Gears of War

text: In the weeks following the Lightmass Bombing, the human population suffers from a condition known as Rustlung, a fatal disease caused by the inhalation of Imulsion fumes - due to the evaporation of Imulsion caused by the Lightmass Bomb. The Locust reemerge and bring with them a force allowing them to sink the cities on the Jacinto Plateau. Following the sinking of nearby cities Tollen and Montevado, and the desperate raid attacks on Jacinto City, the COG fears that the Locust might be trying to sink Jacinto as well.


title: Gears of War

text: In "Gears of War 2", the COG forces deploy thousands of soldiers into the depths of Sera to battle the Locust Horde and stop their plans to sink Jacinto. The COG discovers after the sinking of Ilima City that the Locust have been using a gargantuan worm to sink the cities on the Jacinto Plateau. After killing the Riftworm, Delta Squad is ordered to locate the Locust stronghold by accessing intel from a decommissioned COG laboratory called New Hope, which is full of genetically altered humans called Sires, which Marcus believes were experiments that led to the creation of the Locust Horde. Locating the Locust stronghold Nexus under Mount Kadar, the COG discovers during the battle that members of the Locust Horde are mutating from exposure from Imulsion into "Lambent". These abominations have been forcing the Locust to abandon their underground civilization to try to claim the surface world as their new home. Marcus devises a plan to intentionally sink Jacinto and using the surrounding sea water to flood the Locust and Lambent tunnel network. The COG evacuate Jacinto just as the city collapses and drowns a majority of the Locust Horde.


title: Gears of War

text: The remaining population of the COG rediscover an island base not attacked by the Locust Horde called Vectes, with a town known as Pelruan. The Stranded gangs on the island threaten the safety of the town, but the COG and Stranded cease when the Lambent begin to overrun the island and surrounding ocean. Due to the underground being flooded, the Imulsion from the Hollow was raised into the surface of Sera, causing a pandemic and turning all life into Lambent organisms. The leader of the COG, Chairman Richard Prescott, is believed to be holding secrets from the population. Prescott abandons the COG, forcing them to disband and live as nomads, surviving against the Lambent and Locust stragglers.


title: Gears of War

text: "Gears of War 3" is set two years after the COG disbanded. Prescott returns to reveal that he kidnapped Marcus Fenix's father during the fall of Ephyra and transported him to a secret island facility known as Azura, and that Adam has created a device known as the Imulsion countermeasure that could neutralize both the Lambent and Locust. However, the island was attacked and is occupied by Queen Myrrah and the remaining Locust forces. Marcus and his allies reach Azura after Dominic sacrifices himself to rescue his friends from imminent demise. Adam is rescued and releases his anti-Imulsion weapon but reveals he infected himself with the Lambent contagion to develop the weapon. The Imulsion countermeasure vaporizes all Lambent, including Adam, and crystallizes the Locust. Marcus kills Myrrah and dedicates her demise to his fallen friends, family, and comrades.


title: Gears of War

text: "" focuses on Baird and Cole during the early months after Emergence Day. With military cadet Sofia Hendrick and Garron Paduk, a former UIR soldier, they comprise the Kilo Squad. Baird disobeys orders to use a Lightmass Missile to destroy Locust forces and save survivors at Halvo Bay. Despite also killing the powerful Locust leader Karn, the squad is court-martialed because they disobeyed orders. But because they saved Col. Ezra Loomis and killed Karn, they avoid execution or imprisonment, with Baird demoted from lieutenant to private. A separate campaign, "Aftermath", portrays Baird, Cole, and Paduk in the hours before the activation of the anti-Imulsion energy wave.


title: Gears of War

text: Following the end of the Locust War and Lambent Pandemic, the humans of Sera began to rebuild and started with reorganizing the Coalition of Ordered Governments. Led by First Minister Anya Stroud, wife of Marcus Fenix, the humans begin to rebuild civilization with the assistance of robotic engineers created by Damon Baird. The COG was successful in creating New Ephyra and other walled cities known as Settlements outside of New Ephyra. Following fertility treatment, Anya was able to bear Marcus Fenix's son, James Dominic "JD" Fenix. Anya died from birthing complications and the COG began a more authoritarian rule - prompting many civilians to abandon the COG and live off the land, known as Outsiders. JD was sent to boarding school and met his friend Delmont "Del" Walker. After joining the military, both JD and Del were forced to execute civilians during a protest in Settlement 2, prompting them to leave the COG and becoming Outsiders. They joined a village led by Reyna Diaz and her brother-in-law, Oscar. Reyna's daughter, Kait, became close with JD and Del.


title: Gears of War

text: "Gears of War 4" takes place 25 years after the original "Gears of War" trilogy. JD, accompanied by Kait and Del, conduct frequent raids on COG fortifications to acquire various supplies. The three successfully fend off a COG counterattack only to have their encampment devastated by a new foe, called the Swarm. Kait's mother, Reyna, is captured during the chaos. JD, Kait, and Del reach out to Marcus, a disgruntled COG expatriate, who reluctantly agrees to help them. The COG, led by First Minister Mina Jinn, pursue the group after erroneously believing they are behind a string of kidnappings. The four reach a Locust burial site, where they uncover evidence suggesting that Adam Fenix's countermeasure caused the Locust Horde to enter a cocooned metamorphosis state. Their fears are confirmed when various Locust Horde soldiers attack them in conjunction with the Swarm. The group receives assistance from Damon Baird along with Augustus Cole and Samantha Byrne. They battle their way to the Swarm's hive and defeat multiple Swarm and Locust monstrosities. However, they reach the hive to learn that Swarm's hive-mind has forcefully integrated with Reyna. Kait frees her mother, knowing she will die but will no longer suffer. Reyna gives Kait a parting gift that belonged to her mother – a necklace bearing the insignia of the Locust Queen, Myrrah.


title: Gears of War

text: Kait, JD, Del, and Marcus rejoin the COG and offer their intelligence to Jinn in order to help fight the Swarm. Kait begins to have nightmares and visions related to her mother, the Swarm, and the Locust - but refuses to tell the others about it. Marcus and Baird believe they will need the Hammer of Dawn back online to help defend against the upcoming war with the Swarm. Baird then uncovers additional Hammer of Dawn satellites at Azura.


title: Gears of War

text: In "Gears 5", JD, Kait, Del, and Marcus travel to Azura to launch the Hammer of Dawn satellites. Afterwards, they assist in the evacuation of Settlement 2 as the Swarm have begun their attack on COG Settlements. Four months later, Kait is captured by the Swarm and connects her to the Swarm hivemind, allowing her to control the Swarm to kill the humans, including her uncle. She is freed by Marcus and JD, but in her grief reveals that she has been having visions and nightmares and believes them to be messages by the Swarm, as evidenced by her amulet which bears the Locust symbol. Marcus has Kait and Del find answers at the New Hope facility. After discovering New Hope and an additional lab in Mount Kadar, Kait and Del learn that the Locust were the result of genetic experiments done to human children sick with Rustlung and splicing them with the DNA of creatures in the Hollow. The mutant children, known as Sires, were used to fertilize the stem cells of Myrrah, who was born with a genetic immunity to Imulsion. Kait discovers that Myrrah was Reyna's mother, making Kait the next in line for Queen of the Swarm. She manages to disconnect herself from the Swarm hivemind, but in doing so allowed Reyna to be awoken and become queen of the Swarm. The Swarm becomes stronger and more intelligent now that they have a queen and launch an attack against New Ephyra. Using the Hammer of Dawn, the COG is able to repel the Swarm attack, and Kait vows to kill Queen Reyna before she can attack again.


title: Gears of War

text: "Gears of War" is a third-person shooter game, with its core concepts being derived from "Resident Evil 4"s "over the shoulder" perspective, "Kill Switch"s cover system, and "Bionic Commando"s swinging action akin to moving between points of cover. The series focuses on using cover to tactically engage the enemy in battle to avoid taking damage. While behind cover, the player can fire blindly and inaccurately at their opponent, or can look around the cover and aim carefully, though exposing to enemy fire; the player can slide along cover, move between nearby cover, or vault over cover to race to a new point of cover. As the player takes damage, the "Crimson Omen" appears on the HUD, becoming more defined as the player nears low health levels. The player can regenerate their health by staying out of harm's way for a short while. Should the player take too much damage, they will become incapacitated unless revived by a teammate; depending on game mode, the player may be able to recover from this state on their own, or may die after a short amount of time if not revived. When a combatant is down, a member of the other side may attempt to execute the downed player via a "curb stomp" or other brutal methods. Some types of damage will immediately kill the player with no chance of revival, such as explosive damage. There are five levels on the first two games; they are referred to as "acts" and each act is formed into a certain number of chapters.


title: Gears of War

text: Players in "Gears of War" can carry four different weapons, with the exception of the fourth game, allowing two primary weapon slots that can carry weapons which include, but are not limited to: assault rifles, shotguns, a sniper rifle, grenade launchers and an explosive bow; one grenade slot, which may be filled with up to four grenades of a specific type (Fragmentation, Smoke, Ink and Incendiary), and one pistol-type weapon. Players can either obtain ammo or swap out their current weapons with any weapon dropped by a downed foe or from those scattered around the various maps. Most weapons feature the "Active Reload" ability: either after a weapon has depleted an ammo magazine or when the player starts a manual reload, a meter is shown on screen, and the player can attempt to stop the meter in a certain marked area. If the player stops the meter in the marked area, their reload will be completed faster than if they did not attempt an Active Reload, and if the player can stop the meter at a specific section of the marked area, they will gain a temporary slight damage boost with each reloaded shot and a faster reload. If the player stops the meter outside this area, their gun will become temporarily jammed and slow down the reload time. While most of the weapons are based on standard shooter archetypes, "Gears of War"s signature weapon is the Lancer Assault Rifle, which has a mounted chainsaw bayonet that can be used in close quarter combat to instantly kill a standard foe. Another notable weapon is the Gnasher Shotgun, which is one of the most-used weapons in multiplayer modes for the series, as well as its most divisive. The Gnasher Shotgun, like many other weapons, can be used to bash opponents in melee, or in the case of grenades, can be stuck to a foe, exploding a few seconds later. In "Gears of War 2" and "Gears of War 3", all four types of grenades can be planted on any reachable surface, detonating when an opponent comes close to it. If the opponent spots the grenade, they can detonate it from a safe distance by shooting it.


title: Gears of War

text: All "Gears of War" games feature a campaign mode that can be played cooperatively with one other player. The two players take the roles of two COG soldiers, Marcus Fenix and Dominic "Dom" Santiago, as they fight the Locust. In the third game the campaign allows for up to four players to play together at the same time. The campaign mode features several levels of difficulty. At various times, the campaign will offer a choice of paths the first player can select; if the second player is present, they will be forced to take the other path. The third and fourth players in "Gears of War 3" will be separated between the paths of the first and second players. In these areas, all players generally have to work together to get them through the section, such as by one player providing covering fire while the second player opens a switch that allows the first player to proceed.


title: Gears of War

text: The competitive multiplayer mode in "Gears of War" features 8 players while in "Gears of War 2" features up to ten players split between COG and Locust forces in a number of gameplay types. Modes include "Warzone" and "Execution", both similar to a typical deathmatch, and "Annex" and "King of the Hill" where teams have to control a marked zone on the map. In the mode "Guardian" (only in "Gears of War 2") one member of each team is designated as the leader. As long as the leader is still alive, their teammates can respawn indefinitely. As soon as the leader is executed, their teammates can no longer respawn.


title: Gears of War

text: "Gears of War 3" features better AI. As in past games, the AI went around the obstacle even if it had been destroyed. However, in "Gears of War 3" the AI will recognize that the obstacle has been destroyed and are free to walk on it.


title: Gears of War

text: "Gears of War" is a third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Studios. It was initially released for the Xbox 360 on November 7, 2006 in North America, and on November 17 in Europe. It was released for Microsoft Windows on June 11, 2007. "Gears of War" follows Delta Squad's efforts to help deploy a Lightmass bomb deep in the Locust tunnels to wipe out the Locust threat.