title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: Leopold II reportedly disapproved of dismemberment because it harmed his economic interests. He was quoted as saying "Cut off hands—that's idiotic. I'd cut off all the rest of them, but not hands. That's the one thing I need in the Congo."


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: One practice used to force workers to collect rubber included taking women and family members hostage. Leopold never proclaimed it an official policy, and Free State authorities in Brussels emphatically denied that it was employed. Nevertheless, the administration supplied a manual to each station in the Congo which included a guide on how to take hostages to coerce local chiefs. The hostages could be men, women, children, elders, or even the chiefs themselves. Every state or company station maintained a stockade for imprisoning hostages. ABIR agents would imprison the chief of any village which fell behind its quota; in July 1902 one post recorded that it held 44 chiefs in prison. These prisons were in poor condition and the posts at Bongandanga and Mompono each recorded death rates of three to ten prisoners per day in 1899. Persons with records of resisting ABIR were deported to forced labour camps. There were at least three such camps: one at Lireko, one on the Upper Maringa River and one on the Upper Lopori River.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: Aside from rubber collection, violence in the Free State chiefly occurred in connection with wars and rebellions. Native states, notably Msiri's Yeke Kingdom, the Zande Federation, and Swahili-speaking territory in the eastern Congo under Tippu Tip, refused to recognise colonial authority and were defeated by the "Force Publique" with great brutality, during the Congo–Arab War. In 1895, a military mutiny broke out among the Batetela in Kasai, leading to a four-year insurgency. The conflict was particularly brutal and caused a great number of casualties.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: The presence of rubber companies such as ABIR exacerbated the effect of natural disasters such as famine and disease. ABIR's tax collection system forced men out from the villages to collect rubber which meant that there was no labour available to clear new fields for planting. This in turn meant that the women had to continue to plant worn-out fields resulting in lower yields, a problem aggravated by company sentries stealing crops and farm animals. The post at Bonginda experienced a famine in 1899 and in 1900 missionaries recorded a "terrible famine" across ABIR's concession.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: Leopold sanctioned the creation of "child colonies" in which orphaned Congolese would be kidnapped and sent to schools operated by Catholic missionaries in which they would learn to work or be soldiers; these were the only schools funded by the state. More than 50% of the children sent to the schools died of disease, and thousands more died in the forced marches into the colonies. In one such march 108 boys were sent over to a mission school and only 62 survived, eight of whom died a week later.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: Indigenous Congolese were not the only ones put to work by the free state. 540 Chinese labourers were imported to work on railways in the Congo; however, 300 of them would die or leave their posts. Caribbean peoples and people from other African countries were also imported to work on the railway in which 3,600 would die in the first two years of construction from railroad accidents, lack of shelter, flogging, hunger, and disease.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: Historians generally agree that a dramatic reduction in the overall size of the Congolese population occurred during the two decades of Free State rule in the Congo. It is argued that the reduction in the Congo was atypical and can be attributed to the direct and indirect effects of colonial rule, including disease and falling birthrate.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: The historian Adam Hochschild argued that the dramatic fall in the Free State population was the result of a combination of "murder", "starvation, exhaustion and exposure", "disease" and "a plummeting birth rate". Sleeping sickness was also a major cause of fatality at the time. Opponents of Leopold's rule stated, however, that the administration itself was to be considered responsible for the spreading of the epidemic. Although it is impossible to be sure in the absence of records, violence and murder represented only a portion of the total. In a local study of the Kuba and Kete peoples, the historian Jan Vansina estimated that violence accounted for the deaths of less than five percent of the population.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: Diseases imported by Arab traders, European colonists and African porters ravaged the Congolese population and "greatly exceeded" the numbers killed by violence. Smallpox, sleeping sickness, amoebic dysentery, venereal diseases (especially syphilis and gonorrhea), and swine influenza were particularly severe. Lawyer Raphael Lemkin attributed the quick spread of disease in Congo to the indigenous soldiers employed by the state, who moved across the country and had sex with women in many different places, thus spreading localised outbreaks across a larger area. Sleeping sickness, in particular, was "epidemic in large areas" of the Congo and had a high mortality rate. In 1901 alone, it is estimated that as many as 500,000 Congolese died from sleeping sickness. Vansina estimated that five percent of the Congolese population perished from swine influenza. In areas in which dysentery became endemic, between 30 and 60 percent of the population could die. Vansina also pointed to the effects of malnutrition and food shortages in reducing immunity to the new diseases. The disruption of African rural populations may have helped to spread diseases further. Nevertheless, historian Roger Anstey wrote that "a strong strand of local, oral tradition holds the rubber policy to have been a greater cause of death and depopulation than either the scourge of sleeping sickness or the periodic ravages of smallpox."


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: It is also widely believed that birth rates fell during the period too, meaning that the growth rate of the population fell relative to the natural death rate. Vansina, however, notes that precolonial societies had high birth and death rates, leading to a great deal of natural population fluctuation over time. Among the Kuba, the period 1880 to 1900 was actually one of population expansion.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: A reduction of the population of the Congo is noted by several researchers who have compared the country at the beginning of Leopold's control with the beginning of Belgian state rule in 1908, but estimates of the death toll vary considerably, mainly due to the absence of reliable demographic sources about the region, as well as the sometimes unsubstantiated numbers mentioned by contemporaries in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Estimates of some contemporary observers suggest that the population decreased by half during this period. According to Edmund D. Morel, the Congo Free State counted "20 million souls". Other estimates of the size of the overall population decline (or mortality displacement) range between two and 13 million. Ascherson cites an estimate by Roger Casement of a population fall of three million, although he notes that it is "almost certainly an underestimate". Peter Forbath gave a figure of at least 5 million deaths, while John Gunther also supports a 5 million figure as a minimum death estimate and posits 8 million as the maximum. Lemkin posited that 75% of the population was killed.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: Since no census records the population of the region at the inception of the Congo Free State (the first was taken in 1924), the precise population change in the period is not known. Despite this, Forbath more recently claimed the loss was at least five million. Demographer J.P Sanderson estimates the population in 1885 at around 10–15 million people, and in 2020 proposed three possible scenarios of population decline under Leopold II, suggesting that the most likely scenario is a population decline of 1.5 million people, from 11.5 million people to around 10–10.3 million people during the Congo Free State period.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: Other investigators put the number of deaths significantly higher. Adam Hochschild and Jan Vansina use an approximate number of 10 million. Hochschild cites several recent independent lines of investigation, by anthropologist Jan Vansina and others, that examine local sources (police records, religious records, oral traditions, genealogies, personal diaries), which generally agree with the assessment of the 1919 Belgian government commission: roughly half the population perished during the Free State period. Since the first official census by the Belgian authorities in 1924 put the population at about 10 million, these various approaches suggest a rough estimate of a population decline by 10 million. Jan Vansina returned to the issue of quantifying the total population decline, and discarded his earlier claim of 10 million, he concluded that the Kuba population (one of the many Congolese populations) was rising during the first two decades of Leopold II's rule, and declined by 25 percent from 1900 to 1919, mainly due to sickness. Others argued a decrease of 20 percent over the first forty years of colonial rule (up to the census of 1924). According to historian Isidore Ndaywel è Nziem 13 million died, although he later revised this number downwards to 10 million. Louis and Stengers state that population figures at the start of Leopold's control are only "wild guesses", while calling E. D. Morel's attempt and others at coming to a figure for population losses "but figments of the imagination". Generally, works based on the highest numbers have often been discredited as "wild" and "unsubstantiated", whereas authors who point out the lack of reliable demographic data are questioned by others, calling them "minimalists", "agnosticists" and "revisionists" who allegedly "seek to downplay or minimize the atrocities".


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: Eventually, growing scrutiny of Leopold's regime led to a popular campaign movement, centred in the United Kingdom and the United States, to force Leopold to renounce his ownership of the Congo. In many cases, the campaigns based their information on reports from British and Swedish missionaries working in the Congo.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: The first international protest occurred in 1890 when George Washington Williams, an American, published an open letter to Leopold about abuses he had witnessed. In a letter to the United States Secretary of State, he described conditions in the Congo as "crimes against humanity", thus coining the phrase, which would later become key language in international law. Public interest in the abuses in the Congo Free State grew sharply from 1895, when the Stokes Affair and reports of mutilations reached the European and American public which began to discuss the "Congo Question". To appease public opinion, Leopold instigated a Commission for the Protection of Natives ("Commission pour la Protection des Indigènes"), composed of foreign missionaries, but made few serious efforts at substantive reform.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: In the United Kingdom, the campaign was led by the activist and pamphleteer E. D. Morel after 1900, whose book "Red Rubber" (1906) reached a mass audience. Notable members of the campaign included the novelists Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad and Arthur Conan Doyle as well as Belgian socialists such as Emile Vandervelde. In May 1903 a debate in the British House of Commons led to the passing of a resolution in condemnation of the Congo Free State. A few days later the British consul in the town of Boma, Roger Casement, began touring the Congo to investigate the true extent of the abuses. He delivered his report in December, and a revised version was forwarded to the Free State authorities in February 1904.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: In an attempt to preserve the Congo's labour force and stifle British criticism, Leopold promoted attempts to combat disease to give the impression that he cared about the welfare of the Congolese and invited experts from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to assist. Free State officials also defended themselves against allegations that exploitative policies were causing severe population decline in the Congo by attributing the losses to smallpox and sleeping sickness. Campaigning groups such as the Congo Reform Association did not oppose colonialism and instead sought to end the excesses of the Free State by encouraging Belgium to annex the colony officially. This would avoid damaging the delicate balance of power between France and Britain on the continent. While supporters of the Free State regime attempted to argue against claims of atrocities, a Commission of Enquiry, appointed by the regime in 1904, confirmed the stories of atrocities and pressure on the Belgian government increased.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: In 1908, as a direct result of this campaign, Belgium formally annexed the territory, creating the Belgian Congo. Conditions for the indigenous population improved dramatically with the partial suppression of forced labour, although many officials who had formerly worked for the Free State were retained in their posts long after annexation. Instead of mandating labour for colonial enterprises directly, the Belgian administration used a coercive tax that deliberately pressured Congolese to find work with European employers to procure the necessary funds to make the payments. For some time after the end of the Free State the Congolese were also required to provide a certain number of days of service per year for infrastructure projects.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: The significant number of deaths under the Free State regime has led some scholars to relate the atrocities to later genocides, though understanding of the losses under the colonial administration's rule as the result of harsh economic exploitation rather than a policy of deliberate extermination has led others to dispute the comparison; there is an open debate as to whether the atrocities constitute genocide. According to the United Nations' 1948 definition of the term "genocide", a genocide must be "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group". Indeed, according to Georgi Verbeeck, this conventional definition of genocide has prevented most historians from using the term to describe atrocities in the Free State. Sociologist Rhoda Howard-Hassmann stated that because the Congolese were not killed in a systematic fashion according to this criterion, "technically speaking, this was not genocide even in a legally retroactive sense." Hochschild and political scientist Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja rejected allegations of genocide in the Free State because there was no evidence of a policy of deliberate extermination or the desire to eliminate any specific population groups, though the latter added that nevertheless there was "a death toll of Holocaust proportions."


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: It is generally agreed by historians that extermination was never the policy of the Free State. According to Van Reybrouck, "It would be absurd ... to speak of an act of 'genocide' or a 'holocaust'; genocide implies the conscious, planned annihilation of a specific population, and that was never the intention here, or the result ... But it was definitely a hecatomb, a slaughter on a staggering scale that was not intentional, but could have been recognised much earlier as the collateral damage of a perfidious, rapacious policy of exploitation". Historian Barbara Emerson stated, "Leopold did not start genocide. He was greedy for money and chose not to interest himself when things got out of control." According to Hochschild, "while not a case of genocide, in the strict sense", the atrocities in the Congo were "one of the most appalling slaughters known to have been brought about by human agency".


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: Historians have argued that comparisons drawn in the press by some between the death toll of the Free State atrocities and the Holocaust during World War II have been responsible for creating undue confusion over the issue of terminology. In one incident, the Japanese newspaper "Yomiuri Shimbun" used the word "genocide" in the title of a 2005 article by Hochschild. Hochschild himself criticised the title as "misleading" and stated that it had been chosen "without my knowledge". Similar criticism was echoed by historian Jean-Luc Vellut.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: Allegations of genocide in the Free State have become common over time. Political scientist Martin Ewans wrote, "Leopold's African regime became a byword for exploitation and genocide." According to historian Timothy J. Stapleton, "Those who easily apply the term genocide to Leopold's regime seem to do so purely on the basis of its obvious horror and the massive numbers of people who may have perished." Robert Weisbord argued that there does not have to be intent to exterminate all members of a population in a genocide. He posited that "an endeavor to eliminate a portion of a people would qualify as genocide" according to the UN standards and asserted that the Free State did as much. Jeanne Haskin, Yaa-Lengi Meema Ngemi, and David Olusoga also referred to the atrocities as a genocide. In an unpublished manuscript from the 1950s, Lemkin, coiner of the term "genocide", asserted the occurrence of "an unambiguous genocide" in the Free State, though he blamed the violence on what he saw as "the savagery of African colonial troops". Lemkin emphasized that the atrocities were usually committed by Africans themselves who were in the pay of the Belgians. These "native militia" were described by Lemkin as "an unorganized and disorderly rabble of savages whose only recompense was what they obtained from looting, and when they were cannibals, as was usually the case, in eating the foes against whom they were sent". Genocide scholar Adam Jones claimed that the underrepresentation of males in Congolese population figures after Leopold's rule is evidence that "outright genocide" was the cause of a large portion of deaths in the Free State. Nevertheless, in the strict sense of the term, most historians have rejected allegations of genocide.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: In 2005, an early day motion before the British House of Commons, introduced by Andrew Dismore, called for the recognition of the Congo Free State's atrocities as a "colonial genocide" and called on the Belgian government to issue a formal apology. It was supported by 48 MPs.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: In 1999 Hochschild published "King Leopold's Ghost", a book detailing the atrocities committed during the Free State existence. The book became a bestseller in Belgium, but aroused criticism from former Belgian colonialists and some academics as exaggerating the extent of the atrocities and population decline. Around the 50th anniversary of the Congo's independence from Belgium in 2010, numerous Belgian writers published content about the Congo. Historian Idesbald Goddeeris criticised these works—including Van Reybrouk's "Congo: A History"—for taking a softened stance on the atrocities committed in the Congolese Free State, saying "They acknowledge the dark period of the Congo Free State, but...they emphasize that the number of victims was unknown and that the terror was concentrated in particular regions."


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: The term "Congolese genocide" is often used in an unrelated sense to refer to the mass murder and rape committed in the eastern Congo in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide (and the ensuing Second Congo War) between 1998 and 2003.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: The legacy of the population decline of Leopold's reign left the subsequent colonial government with a severe labour shortage and it often had to resort to mass migrations to provide workers to emerging businesses.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: The atrocities of the era generated public debate about Leopold, his specific role in them, and his legacy. Belgian crowds booed at his funeral in 1909 to express their dissatisfaction with his rule of the Congo. Attention to the atrocities subsided in the following years and statues of him were erected in the 1930s at the initiative of Albert I, while the Belgian government celebrated his accomplishments in Belgium. The release of Hochschild's "King Leopold’s Ghost" in 1999 briefly reignited debate in Belgium, which resurfaced periodically over the following 20 years. Statues of Leopold in the Congo, which became independent in 1960, were relocated to the national museum. In 2020, following the murder of George Floyd in the United States and the subsequent protests, numerous statues of Leopold II in Belgium were vandalised as a criticism of the atrocities of his rule in the Congo. Several petitions called for the removal of the statues in Belgium and had tens of thousands of signees. Other petitions, also signed by tens of thousands of Belgians, called for the statues to remain.


title: Atrocities in the Congo Free State

text: On 30 June 2020, the 60th anniversary of Congolese independence, King Philippe sent a letter to Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi, expressing his "deepest regret" for "acts of violence and cruelty" committed during the existence of the Free State and other transgressions that occurred during the colonial period, but did not explicitly mention Leopold's role in the atrocities. Some activists accused him of not making a full apology.


title: Neha Kapur

text: Neha Kapur (born 31 March 1984) is an Indian model, actress, and former beauty queen who won Femina Miss India in 2006 and represented India at the Miss Universe pageant that year. She is married to Kunal Nayyar.


title: Neha Kapur

text: Kapur was born in New Delhi to a Punjabi Hindu family. She learned classical dance forms when she was very young. She has four years of training in Bharatanatyam and eight years in Kathak. Kapur holds a degree in fashion design from the Pearl Academy.


title: Neha Kapur

text: In addition to winning the Femina Miss India Universe 2006 crown, Kapur also won the Femina Miss Fresh Face and Femina Miss Photogenic awards in the pageant.


title: Neha Kapur

text: Kapur represented India at the Miss Universe 2006 pageant held on 23 July in Los Angeles. She made the semifinals to the top 20.


title: Neha Kapur

text: In December 2011, Kapur married British actor Kunal Nayyar, who is best known for his portrayal of Rajesh Koothrappali in the TV comedy series "The Big Bang Theory".


title: Selena (film)

text: Selena is a 1997 American biographical musical drama film written and directed by Gregory Nava. The film is about the life and career of Tejano music star Selena Quintanilla Pérez, following her rise to fame and tragic death when she was murdered by Yolanda Saldívar at the age of 23.


title: Selena (film)

text: The film stars Jennifer Lopez as Selena Quintanilla Pérez. Edward James Olmos plays Selena's father Abraham Quintanilla Jr. and Constance Marie plays Selena's mother Marcella Quintanilla. "Selena" was released on March 21, 1997, in the United States, by Warner Bros. Pictures, and received positive reviews upon release.


title: Selena (film)

text: In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film was re-released in select theaters in the United States on April 7, 2022.


title: Selena (film)

text: The film opens at the Houston Astrodome in Houston, Texas on February 26, 1995, where Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla Pérez plays to a sold-out crowd ("Disco Medley").


title: Selena (film)

text: Then we flashback to 1961, where young Abraham Quintanilla Jr. and his band "The Dinos" are rejected by a restaurant owner after an audition in Texas. They perform for a Mexican-American nightclub, but a riot ensues when they don't perform the audience's preferred Tejano music ("Oldies Medley"), but rather American pop.


title: Selena (film)

text: Twenty years later, Abraham is married to Marcella Samora, with three children: son Abraham III (A.B.), and daughters Suzette and Selena. Discovering Selena's singing talent, he creates the band Selena y Los Dinos, with she as lead singer, A.B. on bass, and Suzette on drums. Initially reluctant, the children enjoy making music ("We Belong Together"). Moving to Corpus Christi, Texas, the band goes on the road to support the family. After lackluster reception at a carnival, Selena begins adding more dance and personality into her acts. The band's success grows following local performances. In 1989, Selena reveals her bustier during a carnival performance ("Baila Esta Cumbia"), angering Abraham due to its sexually suggestive nature.


title: Selena (film)

text: In 1990, Chris Pérez auditions as the guitarist. Abraham disapproves of his heavy metal style but hires him after he agrees to cut his hair. Selena and Chris eventually fall in love. In 1992, when Chris' former band members trash a hotel suite, Abraham threatens to fire him. A.B. pleads with him to reconsider, mentioning he is needed for their upcoming tour in Mexico. Promoters worry when they realize Selena does not speak Spanish well, but her personality and care for her fans win everyone over. A show almost goes awry when the huge crowd rushes the stage and it buckles ("La Carcacha"). Selena calms them down with a joyous performance ("Como la Flor") and is accepted as an "artist for the people" in Mexico.


title: Selena (film)

text: Catching Selena hugging Chris on the tour bus, Abraham fires him and threatens a heartbroken Selena and the rest of the family with disbandment if they disobey him. They secretly continue their romance, eventually eloping at the Nueces County Courthouse. Selena insists, stating that Abraham will never willingly accept their relationship. The day after a radio station announces their marriage. Abraham tells Selena he is proud of her maturity, having realized that he was too harsh on her and Chris. The Quintanillas congratulate them, accept Chris into their family, and rehire him as the guitarist.


title: Selena (film)

text: In 1994, José Behar and music executives from EMI Latin attend a Selena concert ("Bidi Bidi Bom Bom"/"No Me Queda Más"), offering her to record an English-language album, showing that she has successfully broken down cultural barriers. Selena opens her first Selena Etc. boutique and asks her fan club president Yolanda Saldívar to manage it. Her live album wins a Grammy for Best Mexican-American album, so her staff chip in to get her a celebratory gift. After claiming she knows the perfect gift and suggesting they give her all of the money to buy it, Yolanda gives Selena a ring resembling the Faberge eggs but does not mention it was a group present. She begins recording her crossover album ("I Could Fall In Love") and she and Chris plan to start a family together.


title: Selena (film)

text: One night, Abraham tells Selena fans are upset as they paid to join her fan club but received nothing. Other funds that Yolanda has been handling cannot be accounted for, and vital business records are missing. Summoned to Q-Productions and confronted by Abraham, Selena, and Suzette, Yolanda denies wrongdoing and says she will find the missing documents. While on the road Selena talks to her mom about being accepted in the English-speaking market and expresses thoughts about starting a family. While dreaming about the crossover tour ("Dreaming of You"), the scene cuts to a news report of March 31, 1995, where a paramedic is tending to Selena who is shot and killed offscreen by Yolanda after attempting to retrieve some financial papers. Yolanda ends up in a standoff with cops, putting her gun over her head to hold them off. After Selena dies, the family mourns her death and is followed by a candlelight vigil held by fans while a montage of the real Selena is shown.


title: Selena (film)

text: On March 31, 1995, Selena was shot and killed by Yolanda Saldívar, a former friend who had managed the singer's Selena Etc. boutiques. Response by the Hispanic community was comparable to the reaction of the assassinations of John Lennon and John F. Kennedy, or the death of Elvis Presley. Newsstands were swarmed by people looking for items concerning Selena. Shortly thereafter, several media projects were in production, including eight unauthorized biographies, six documentaries and two Quintanilla family-unapproved biographical films in production. This led Abraham to begin working on an authorized biographical material within weeks of her death, a process he found difficult since the family was still mourning.


title: Selena (film)

text: He believed the film would "put an end to all the false rumors" that were circulating through the media at the time and "silence [the media] from telling the wrong story." He wanted "the whole world to know the [true] story about [Selena]." A.B. spoke out about the family's concern about possible "misinterpretation of [Selena], [their] family, and a culture" by outside sources, and their belief that it was imperative to release their own official film. A.B. claimed the decision was foisted upon them after learning about the unauthorized biographies and films that could have potentially misconstrued Selena's story. At the time of Abraham's decision, there were "gossip and hurtful crazy things that were coming from the press" about the family's plan on a film. Abraham wanted the film to immortalize Selena "in a true positive and beautiful way [and wanted] to celebrate her life [and to] quiet and put to rest all [the] negative ugliness [the media had portrayed]."


title: Selena (film)

text: News of Abraham's desire to release an official authorized film reached Hollywood, and American film producer, Moctesuma Esparza. Esparza immediately approached Abraham at his Corpus Christi office about partnering to produce the film. He educated Abraham about the filmmaking process and the support system he could provide while giving Abraham authoritative control over casting, approval of the script and choosing the director. On August 30, 1995 (a week after he and Abraham agreed to partner), Esparza returned to Corpus Christi from California and brought on Gregory Nava. Abraham disliked Esparza's decision and expressed concern about Nava's potential involvement.


title: Selena (film)

text: Abraham told Esparza he did not want Nava to be the director because of his ego, though Esparza convinced Abraham that he was the perfect candidate. Producer Robert Katz later said Nava was chosen because other films he directed "[have] a very uplifting and positive quality" and believed they deal with "very strong and tragic elements." "The Dallas Morning News" found Nava's works to give "moviegoers a passionate, powerful look at Hispanic life". On September 8, 1995, Abraham informed the media his decision to partner with Esparza/Katz Productions and announced the film's budget to be in the range of $15 and $20 million. In an "Entertainment Weekly" interview, Abraham confessed on wanting the duo because they were "in tune with our culture". Other Hispanic filmmakers were considered to direct the film including Luis Valdez and Edward James Olmos but had settled with Nava. Katz said the team had overcome "what most people thought was a fatal contract" by entrusting Abraham's decisions and having a working relationship with him throughout the film's production: "working things out in advance so the studios knew exactly what we were proposing."


title: Selena (film)

text: Nava began writing the script after recording the Quintanilla family on their stories about Selena. Suzette commented on how Nava took "hours and hours of little stories of our lives and what we would do and how we felt." Nava explained how some stories "had came out" during his recording sessions with the family and published the first draft on March 4, 1996. The incident where Selena and Perez eloped was written in the draft, which Abraham expressed disagreements on. Citing the singer's popularity with children, he was concerned that they could get the wrong message about elopement as being in her best interest.


title: Selena (film)

text: Nava took a few days to persuade Abraham about the scene's content before he agreed to it, noting that although he understood Abraham's viewpoint, Selena's elopement was important to include because it was a major part of her story. He further insisted that his character's embrace of the match after the scene would shade a more positive tone after his earlier negative judgments on Selena and Perez's relationship. Curious about how Nava found out about the elopement, Abraham asked the director and found out that he had interviewed Perez, who had said that Selena had coaxed him into engagement. The earlier assumption was that Perez had pressured her into secretly getting married.


title: Selena (film)

text: Roger Mussenden was hired as casting director, and he held casting calls throughout the United States including San Antonio, Texas, Miami, Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles. Casting calls began on March 16, 1996, and concluded on March 23. Over 21,000 people auditioned for the title role, becoming the second largest audition since the search for Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind" (1939). Casting turnouts reached 10,000 in Los Angeles and 5,000 in Chicago, while turnouts reached 8,000 in San Antonio. Mussenden chose newcomer 10-year-old Rebecca Lee Meza of Harlingen, Texas to portray young Selena.


title: Selena (film)

text: Mexican actress Salma Hayek was invited to test the role of Selena by Esparza. Hayek turned the role down; she said she felt it was "too early" to base a movie on Selena and that it would be emotional because Selena's death was still being covered on U.S. television. Abraham discovered an actress in Los Angeles and wanted her for the role as Selena, despite her inability to convince the casting crew. He later had a change of heart when American actress and dancer Jennifer Lopez had showed up for the audition.


title: Selena (film)

text: Lopez found the audition process an elaborated procedure and was asked to sing, dance, and act out the elopement scene in front of the casting crew and Abraham. Within three takes of the elopement scene, Lopez convinced the entire casting crew who believed her performance was "among the strongest". Lopez had previously worked with Nava in "My Family" (1995). Screen testing was described as "grueling" and required "nine minutes of singing and dancing and eight pages of script." After the announcement that Lopez would portray Selena, news media and fans criticized Abraham for choosing Lopez, a New York City native born to Puerto Rican parents, to play a Texan of Mexican descent.


title: Selena (film)

text: The Mexican media disapproved of the film and were outraged that Lopez was chosen for the title role. Lopez received backlash from the media and fans because she was not a Mexican American. The Hispanic community began protesting for a recast. During pre-production, Lopez stated: "I know a few people were protesting, but in Corpus [Selena's hometown] everyone has been really supportive". Nava admitted that the backlash was "a little hurtful", and felt the protesters "should be celebrating that we have an all-Latino cast and that Lopez, one of our own, is becoming a star." The announcement was described as the "role of a lifetime," with Lopez's salary for the film reportedly $1M USD, making Lopez the highest paid Hispanic actress up to that time. Dave Karger of "Entertainment Weekly" noted that "nothing could have prepared [Lopez] for the hype attached to her million-dollar salary."


title: Selena (film)

text: On August 8, the "Los Angeles Daily News" announced that Jon Seda (who is of Puerto Rican descent) and Edward James Olmos (who is of Mexican descent) had joined the cast as Chris Pérez and Abraham Quintanilla, respectively. After Lopez landed the role, she decided to stay with Suzette Quintanilla, Selena’s sister, at her home to study her character in the recordings and footage the family shared with her. Lopez felt that her "spirit and [Selena's] spirit were so similar" which was echoed by the singer's family who found that Lopez mimicked the personality traits of Selena. They believed that Lopez' body language, laugh and how she talked were identical to that of Selena.


title: Selena (film)

text: Lopez had constant dance rehearsals for the film and said how she would arrive at the studio late in the day after finishing filming for another role. The family often had the entire main cast of the film over for dinner and would notice how they would watch them in their interactions with each other and the way they ate. Edward James Olmos, who took the role as Abraham, was asked to gain for the film. The cast found Olmos to be a father figure for them who often gave advice to the cast during filming.


title: Selena (film)

text: A.B. found Olmos' portrayal of his father to be convincing, especially in the scene where Abraham was angered after finding out about Selena and Perez' relationship. Band member Pete Astudillo, commenting on production, said he had to do a screen test to play himself and had to improvise in several of his scenes, since he had little dialogue in the film.


title: Selena (film)

text: Jon Seda often spent time with his subject Chris Pérez for character development. Seda visited Perez at the home he shared with Selena and found a price sticker in the bathroom with a scribbled letter that read "Selena and Chris, I Love You" which further inspired Seda to "show the love they [once] had" in the film. The biographical film focused on Selena's life rather than her death, with Nava saying, "I don't want to attend to [her murder]."


title: Selena (film)

text: Principal photography began September 1996, in San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Poteet, Houston, and Lake Jackson, Texas. Nava used locals as extras for the film. Selena's singing voice was dubbed onto Lopez's performance. During the opening of the Selena Etc. boutique scene, Suzette Quintanilla, Selena’s sister, believed Lopez was wearing Selena's clothing, but it was in fact a replica recreated by the film’s costume designer.


title: Selena (film)

text: Quintanilla expressed how she was overcome with emotions after seeing Lopez in a replica of the dress Selena had worn to the 1994 Grammy Awards. During the elopement scene, Pérez explained how the scene was reminiscent of the actual event as if he were "transported back in time," and remembered how he had a do not disturb sign and heard a knock on his door. He found the scene to be one of the hardest to watch after and recalled Selena told him that eloping was the only resource they had and they would never have a wedding she dreamed about. Pérez refused to visit the set and explained that he did not want to partake in the film's process.


title: Selena (film)

text: Seda convinced Perez to visit the set for the scene where his character auditions for the role as the new guitarist for the band. After researching on how to perform a riff on a guitar and having lessons from Pérez, Seda felt that the scene would not come off as authentic since he could not replicate Pérez's guitar riffs. He tricked Pérez into visiting the set so that he could play the riff and have the director shoot a close up of his hands for the film. Seda said how after the film was released that people we convinced he could play the guitar; Seda said he revealed to fans how it was actually Perez performing the riff in the scene.


title: Selena (film)

text: Nava pointed out how he wanted the performance scenes in the film to be "integrated into the drama and to reflect what the characters were going through emotionally and what Selena was going through emotionally at that particular time." He further explained how he wanted the Astrodome scene to be the opening of the film to show viewers at her height of her career and then flashback to show how she got there. The scene was shot at the San Antonio Alamodome on September 15, 1996, and was attended by 35,000 residents lured by newspaper ads.


title: Selena (film)

text: Lopez expressed that she was nervous for the scene since it would be the first time she would perform in front of an audience of that size. Furthermore, explaining how uneven she felt due to the criticism she received and was unsure how fans would receive her. Jackie Guerra commented that during the scene she caught a glimpse of Selena's parents sobbing. The cast later expressed how they were overwhelmed with emotions once the scene was completed. Later that night, fans approached Lopez, sobbing and expressed to the actress that “she looked so much” like Selena and the public perception of Lopez changed after her performance.


title: Selena (film)

text: The hospital scene set after Selena’s death was shot once, making everyone present emotional. Guerra said how she was physically and emotionally drained after the filming the scene. She explained how she "could not imagine what's it like to be [the Quintanilla family]" and further said how she had to live with the pain for four months and found the pain the family goes through unimaginable. Lopez said it made her appreciate life even more, whereas Seda expressed that working on the film was one of the hardest for him in terms of departing from the cast.


title: Selena (film)

text: An original motion picture "Selena" soundtrack was released by EMI Latin on March 11, 1997, debuting at number 20 on the US "Billboard" 200. The soundtrack is a compilation of Selena’s music, three of which are medleys of Selena’s live recording remixed for the film, as well as tracks included in the film and tribute songs from various artists. The only songs featured on the soundtrack that were not in the film were "Is it the Beat," "Only Love" and "A Boy Like That," and Selena tributes sung by other artists. The only recordings heard in the film were the "Cumbia Medley," "Disco Medley" and "Where Did the Feeling Go?", which was played in the last half of the film's closing credits. The Vidal Brothers' "Oldies Medley" was also in the film. All the other songs, including rare tracks, hits and cuts like the "Disco Medley, Part II" (which was recorded live during Selena's 1995 concert at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo), were live recordings of Selena in concerts.


title: Selena (film)

text: "Selena" opened March 21, 1997 and earned $11.6 million on its opening weekend. On its second weekend, the film earned $6.2 million. The following weekend, it earned $6.1 million. The film grossed $35.5 million domestically during its theatrical run.


title: Selena (film)

text: The first DVD release of "Selena" was released in 1997. A 10th Anniversary DVD edition was released on September 18, 2007, by Warner Home Video. The two-disc set contains the original theatrical version (127 minutes) and a director's cut version (134 minutes) of the film, which had been shown on several TV stations before. Extras include "Making of Selena: 10 Years Later", "Selena, Queen of Tejano", and nine additional scenes. Warner Archive Collection released the Blu-ray format for the first time on May 19, 2020 as a manufacture-on-demand title, and it contained both cuts of the film in addition to all the extras from the 10th Anniversary DVD. "Selena" was re-released in theaters on April 7, 2022 by Iconic Distribution, to mark twenty five years of the classic film.


title: Selena (film)

text: "Selena" received mostly positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 67% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 48 reviews, with an average score of 6.10/10. The critics consensus reads, ""Selena" occasionally struggles to tell its subject's story with depth or perspective, but those flaws are rendered largely irrelevant by Jennifer Lopez in the title role." At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 67 based on 17 reviews, indicating "Generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Selena (film)

text: Roger Ebert, film critic for the "Chicago Sun-Times," was impressed by the acting, and gave "Selena" three-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "Young Selena is played by Becky Lee Meza, who has a big smile and a lot of energy. The teenage and adult Selena is played by Lopez in a star-making performance. After her strong work as the passionate lover of Jack Nicholson in the current "Blood and Wine," here she creates a completely different performance, as a loyal Quintanilla who does most of her growing up on a tour bus with her dad at the wheel." "Entertainment Weekly" believed Lopez perfected Selena's accent while "studying performance footage of the pop sensation" according to Nava. Lopez said "you need to do your homework on this gig" because Selena was "fresh in the public's mind".


title: Selena (film)

text: Film critic Lisa Kropiewnicki liked the film and wrote, "Jennifer Lopez delivers a breakout performance...[and] Nava's engaging script wisely mines his subject's life for humor and conflict, embracing Selena Quintanilla's passion for music." Film critic James Berardinelli also liked the film and the screenplay, writing, "It would have been easy to trivialize Selena's story, turning it into a sudsy, made-for-TV type motion picture." He believed the acting was top-notch and wrote "Jennifer Lopez is radiant as the title character, conveying the boundless energy and enthusiasm that exemplified Selena, while effectively copying not only her look but her mannerisms. I wonder if Selena's family, upon watching this performance, felt an eerie sense of "déjà vu"."


title: Selena (film)

text: "Los Angeles Times" film critic Kenneth Turan gave the film a mixed review. He wrote the film is part of a "completely predictable Latino soap opera." However, he added that "there are chunks of "Selena" that only a stone could resist. This movie turns out to be a celebration not only of the singer but also (as "What's Love" was for Angela Bassett) of the actress who plays her, Jennifer Lopez." Leonard Maltin gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four; while he praised Lopez and Olmos, he called the film a "glossy, congenially corny biography. "Ironically," Maltin wrote, "the film does more to solidify Selena's celebrity than she was able to accomplish in her short lifetime."


title: Selena (film)

text: Some critics, however, did not like how the film appeared to be a sanitized Selena portrait. Critic Walter Addiego considers Nava's work a worshipful biography of her. Addiego, writing for the "San Francisco Examiner," did have a few enjoyable moments viewing the film but wrote, "You can't help cheering for Selena, but the good feeling is diminished by the sense that her story's been simplified and sanitized."


title: Selena (film)

text: On January 1, 2021, all 38 members of the U.S. Congress' Congressional Hispanic Caucus signed a letter addressed to the Library of Congress "formally nominating" "Selena" to be added to the National Film Registry. The lobbying effort aimed at Carla Hayden was led by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), chairman of the caucus, and framed the act as a way to, among other things, more broadly recognize Latino contributions to film, increase acclaim of Latino cinema and effect broader cinematic representation. On December 14, 2021, the film was officially selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


title: Selena (film)

text: "" is a biographical television series about the late singer Selena Quintanilla. The series comes 23 years after its original film and premiered on Netflix on December 4, 2020.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in the comic book "The Uncanny X-Men" #4 (March 1964) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The character has since starred in two self-titled limited series and has historically been depicted as a regular team member in superhero title "The Avengers".


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver has the superhuman ability to move at great speeds. In most depictions, he is a mutant, a human born with innate superhuman powers. In comic book stories beginning in 2015, he is the product of genetic experimentation by the High Evolutionary. Quicksilver most commonly appears in fiction associated with the X-Men, having been introduced as an adversary for the superhero team. In later stories, he became a superhero himself. He is the twin brother of the Scarlet Witch and, in most depictions, the son of Magneto and the half-brother of Polaris.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Debuting in the Silver Age of comic books, Quicksilver has featured in several decades of Marvel continuity, starring in the self-titled series "Quicksilver" and as a regular team member in superhero title the "Avengers".


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: The character has also appeared in a range of movie, television, and video game adaptations. Two separate live-action versions of Quicksilver have been adapted by two different film studios: Aaron Taylor-Johnson portrayed the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise, appearing in "" (2014) as a cameo and "" (2015) while Evan Peters portrayed him in the 20th Century Fox films "" (2014), "" (2016) and "Dark Phoenix" (2019), as well as a cameo in "Deadpool 2" (2018). Peters later appeared as an imposter Pietro in the MCU television series "WandaVision" (2021), as a nod to his past role.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver first appears in "X-Men" #4 (March 1964) and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby. The character initially appears as an antagonist to the X-Men, although before long he becomes a member of the Avengers and appears as a regular character in that title beginning with "The Avengers" #16 in May 1965. He has made numerous other appearances in that title, and other related titles, sometimes as a member of the team, sometimes as an ally, and sometimes as an antagonist.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: From 1991 to 1993 Quicksilver was a regular character in the first volume of "X-Factor". The series emphasized the character's irritability and arrogance, which writer Peter David felt were a natural consequence of his powers, explaining:


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver also starred in "Quicksilver", a regular ongoing eponymous series that began in November 1997 and ran for 13 issues.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver appeared as a supporting character in "Avengers Academy" from issue #1 (August 2010) through its final issue #39 (January 2013). He appears as one of the members of "All-New X-Factor", which was launched in 2014 as part of the second Marvel NOW! wave. Writer Peter David's handling of the character in that book earned the character a 2014 @ssie award from Ain't It Cool News.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: AICN's Matt Adler commented that David writes the character best and that the "arrogant, impatient speedster" made the title worth following.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Pietro and his twin sister, Wanda, were raised by Django and Marya Maximoff, a Romani couple. As adolescents, Pietro Django Maximoff and his sister Wanda discovered that they had peculiar talents. When Django began to steal food to feed his starving family, enraged villagers attacked the Roma camp. Using his phenomenal speed, Pietro fled from the camp with his sister. Over the next few years, Wanda and Pietro wandered Central Europe, living off the land.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: The character first appears with Wanda, now called the Scarlet Witch, as a part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The siblings were originally presented as mutants, with Pietro possessing superhuman speed and Wanda able to control probability. The pair are recruited by Magneto after he saves Wanda from a mob after she accidentally causes a house to burst into flame. Quicksilver stays with her to protect her. After several confrontations with the X-Men, they depart when Magneto and his lackey the Toad are abducted by the cosmic entity the Stranger. They then travel back to Europe. Pietro and his sister reform and are recruited by Iron Man to the superhero team the Avengers, after they discover they are advertising for new members and want to get support for themselves.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Together with the leader Captain America and former villain Hawkeye, the four become the second generation of Avengers, and are later dubbed "Cap's Kooky Quartet". Quicksilver first thinks he should be the leader and would sometimes quarrel with the other members. The Scarlet Witch becomes close friends with Hawkeye and both become loyal members of the team until Wanda is accidentally shot on a mission against Magneto. Quicksilver then flees from the Avengers with his wounded sister. The pair accompany Magneto back to his mid-Atlantic base, where he captures the X-Men and Pietro skirmishes with the X-Man Cyclops. The twins finally realize that Magneto is the true villain. Pietro and Wanda reappear in the title "X-Men" and are then kidnapped along with several other mutants by the robot Sentinels, and are subsequently freed by the X-Men.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: The character reappears in the title "The Avengers", and advises the team that Wanda has been kidnapped and taken to another dimension by the warlord Arkon. After Wanda is rescued, Pietro and his sister rejoin the team. During one mission Quicksilver is wounded by a Sentinel and is found by Crystal, a member of the Inhumans. Crystal nurses Pietro back to health, and the pair are eventually married. Pietro and Wanda also meet Robert Frank—formerly World War II hero, the Whizzer—who was present at Mount Wundagore (the birthplace of the siblings) with his wife at the time of their birth. Frank briefly joins the Avengers, believing Pietro and Wanda to be his children. The Scarlet Witch also becomes romantically involved with her Avengers teammate, the Android Vision. Although Pietro initially disapproves, he eventually gives his blessing to their marriage.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver features with the Inhumans and Fantastic Four against the villain Sphinx, and the siblings' origin is explored in the title "Avengers" when a Romani man by the name Django Maximoff, (who is soon revealed to be their biological father), kidnaps Pietro and Wanda and returns to Mount Wundagore in the country of Transia, where they were born. After a battle with the Avengers against the Elder God Chthon, the siblings learn from Bova, one of the "New Men" created by the High Evolutionary, that they are the children of Maximoff, and not Robert Frank. Quicksilver then returns to Attilan (city of the Inhumans) and is revealed to have had a daughter (Luna) with Crystal.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: During the limited series "Vision and the Scarlet Witch", Magneto forces Bova to reveal the truth about his missing children, who are revealed to be Pietro and Wanda. After their mother Magda dies in childbirth, the children are given by the High Evolutionary to Django Maximoff to raise as his own. Pietro and Wanda reject Magneto when told. His marriage to Crystal is also strained when she has an affair. Crystal's uncle Maximus the Mad uses technology to cause Quicksilver to become psychotic. This drove him to frame the Avengers for treason as his perceptions are twisted to perceive them as having 'betrayed' him, forcing them to escape the government-sponsored Freedom Force, and then deal with Quicksilver's new 'team' of LMD-based duplicates of the Zodiac, until the Vision convinces Pietro to stand down by showing him images of his newborn nephews.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver battles the West Coast Avengers and is captured by the Inhumans and cured of his condition. In an effort to repent for his actions, Pietro aids the Avengers West Coast against Magneto and the villain Immortus, who has captured Wanda. Although successful, Pietro refuses to return to Crystal and joins the U.S. government-sponsored superhero team X-Factor. The character and Crystal are reunited during the storyline "Bloodties" when the Avengers, X-Factor and X-Men team to stop a group of mutant terrorists who kidnap their daughter Luna, and are responsible for a civil war on the island nation of Genosha. After dealing with the threat, Quicksilver learns of Crystal's relationship with Avenger the Black Knight and leaves, also resigning from X-Factor.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver takes his daughter Luna and travels to Mt. Wundergore, aiding the High Evolutionary and his Knights of Wundagore against Exodus and the Man Beast. Quicksilver uses the experimental "Isotope E" to augment his powers, allowing him to move at greater supersonic speeds. A future version of Pietro called "Nestor" appears and reveals that his powers are not speed but rather temporal based. Quicksilver also rejoins a reformed Avengers.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: With half-sister Polaris, Quicksilver spies on their father Magneto, who is now the ruler of Genosha. Quicksilver is banished when he rallies the Avengers against Magneto.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver plays a pivotal role in the limited series "House of M", convincing his now mentally unstable sister Wanda to use her abilities to warp reality and create a world where mutants are in a majority and humans are the minority. Thanks to Wolverine retaining his memories, along with the mysterious Layla Miller, many of Earth's heroes regain their memories and battle Magneto, who also remembers and realizes that Pietro is to blame for this mistake. Magneto kills Quicksilver (crushing his body with a robot Sentinel) in a rage at this perceived 'abuse' of his dream, although the character is resurrected and the normal reality restored when the Scarlet Witch witnesses this, telling Magneto he cares more for mutants than his own children. In retaliation the Scarlet Witch has also depowered 98% of the mutant population, which by accident includes Quicksilver.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: The story continues in the limited series "Son of M", with Quicksilver, desperate to regain his powers, exposing himself to the Terrigen Mist (the source of the Inhumans' mutations and abilities) and inserts Terrigen crystals into his body—all without permission from Black Bolt. Courtesy of the Terrigen crystals, Quicksilver gains new "time jumping" powers and kidnaps his daughter Luna. Quicksilver discovers the crystals can restore mutant abilities but have an extreme effect on non-Inhuman physiology, causing several deaths. Quicksilver and Crystal meet again in the direct sequel, limited series "Silent War" when Black Bolt demands the return of the crystals. When Crystal sees how he has mutated, she declares their marriage annulled according to Inhuman law.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: In the title "X-Factor", the crystals are removed from Quicksilver's body by Rictor, leaving him powerless once again. Destitute and jailed for vagrancy in the one-shot "X-Factor: The Quick and the Dead", Quicksilver has a series of hallucinations and inexplicably regains his super speed. Escaping jail, Quicksilver rescues an innocent and rediscovers his desire to be a hero.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver appears in the title "The Mighty Avengers" and is used as a pawn by Elder God Chthon, with the character's spirit trapped in the arcane tome called the Darkhold. The Avengers defeat Chthon, and Quicksilver's consciousness is "downloaded" into the body of Vision, before being restored to his own body. Quicksilver joins the team after learning that it is Wanda (Asgardian god Loki in disguise) who brought the team together. After the events of the Secret Invasion storyline the character is publicly exonerated of former crimes, with an unknown Skrull being blamed (although Hank Pym, Maximoff's daughter Luna, and Avengers butler Edwin Jarvis are aware of the lie). Quicksilver also resumes wearing his original green costume. Quicksilver loses the respect of his daughter Luna when he lies to the Inhumans and claims that many of his past actions were actually perpetrated by a Skrull impostor, although Pym tolerates the lie as he feels that Quicksilver deserves a chance to redeem himself.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver finally learns that the person he thought was his sister is actually Loki in disguise. Enraged, he and the rest of the team travel to the Isle of Silence to set a trap for the god of mischief. After imprisoning Loki in a device designed by Hank Pym, he begins torturing the god for information about Wanda's whereabouts. Loki offers no information about her and manages to contact Thor to beg for his help. Thor arrives and attacks Quicksilver for the way he is treating Loki. He is able to outrun the thunder god's lightning but is eventually overpowered. He is one of the Avengers who joins Hercules, Amadeus Cho and their allies in an assault on Olympus Group Headquarters. He battles Amazon warrior women alongside Zeus and helps a wounded Wolverine defeat the Huntsman, stabbing him through the chest with his own weapon.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver is later summoned by the Ghost using Amadeus Cho's technology, to defend Asgard against the Thunderbolts. He single-handedly defeats Mister X who is in possession of the Spear of Odin. Mr. X is not able to react quickly enough despite his abilities and Quicksilver viciously beats him down with a piece of debris. He is seen alongside the other Avengers against the Void-possessed Sentry in the events of Siege.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver is searching for his sister in Wundagore when Magneto and the Young Avengers go to find the Scarlet Witch. After trying to abduct his nephew Wiccan so he can assist him in finding his sister, he is stopped by his father and his other nephew, Speed. After Wiccan suggests that maybe Magneto actually did want to make up for his past, he became angry and said, "Nephew the last time I allowed myself to believe that... My father tried to kill me". Quicksilver prepares to fight his father but when debris from his rampage strikes his sister it is found that the Scarlet Witch there is actually a Doombot in disguise. The journey takes Quicksilver and his comrades all the way to Latveria so they rescue the Scarlet Witch. After the Scarlet Witch turns herself into the X-Men and the Avengers a fight breaks out between the two groups. After being knocked out along with all the other Avengers and X-Men by his sister, he is finally reunited with his sister.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver joins the teaching staff of Avengers Academy to teach young students how to become heroes. He does so in order to distance himself from the legacy of his father Magneto. One of the new students, Finesse, figures out that his story about being abducted by Skrulls is a lie. She blackmails him into giving her "private lessons" on everything he learned during his time with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Finesse convinces Quicksilver to help her search for the Taskmaster, who might be her biological father. After arriving at what they thought was an abandoned training camp, they found it still in use and quickly captured the criminals they found there. Quicksilver returned to the mansion and encountered Tigra, who was upset because some of the students assaulted the Hood on her behalf. During a heated exchange Quicksilver managed to convince her that kicking them out of Avengers Academy for trying to help would only turn them against becoming heroes. At the new campus for the Avengers Academy (where the Faculty are offering to train other superpowered youths), Quicksilver is revealed to be mentoring Lightspeed as a teacher's assistant.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: In the miniseries "Magneto: Not a Hero", Joseph is resurrected under unknown circumstances and forms a new Brotherhood of Mutants with Astra and mutated deformed versions of Blob, Mastermind, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Toad. It is soon revealed that the mutated versions of Blob, Mastermind, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Toad are clones created by Joseph.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver has joined the privately owned superhero team X-Factor. When confronted during a press conference by Fatale over his actions meant to repower mutants and his lying about a Skrull having been responsible, Pietro finally admitted in public that he had been responsible and had tried to avoid facing the consequences; by doing this, he earned his daughter's respect back, and the two reconciled.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Wanda and other heroes and villains experienced a moral inversion during a clash with the Red Onslaught. Quicksilver and Magneto try to talk the inverted Wanda down, but when Wanda attacks them with a curse designed to punish her blood relatives that only affects Quicksilver, Wanda realizes that Magneto is not their biological father.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch later take a trip to Counter-Earth. After being tracked down and defeated by Luminous (a female who was created by the genetic material of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver), Pietro and Wanda were brought to the High Evolutionary himself. He revealed to them that they are actually the long thought deceased children of Django and Marya Maximoff, Anna and Mateo. He also told them the truth where they were not mutants at all, but they had been experimented on by the High Evolutionary. After escaping from the High Evolutionary's experimentations, Pietro and Wanda located the Avengers Unity Division (who had traveled to the Counter-Earth looking for the twins) and helped the inhabitants of Lowtown (a refuge for the High Evolutionary's rejects) from their creator's assault. After the High Evolutionary is defeated and he escapes into a portal with Luminous, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch return to Earth with the Avengers Unity Division.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: When the second superhero Civil War began, Pietro came to ask Wanda for help, but Wanda refused, because she and Pietro disagreed on which side was right - Pietro not liking the idea of profiling people based on what they might do and Wanda feeling that thinking about the future would have prevented many of their more dangerous mistakes in the past - past precedent made Wanda feel that introducing her powers to a conflict of this nature could be more dangerous than the existing situation, and she resented Pietro still trying to tell her what to do as though she was a child, bluntly informing him that his refusal to learn from his mistakes marked him as a sociopath. Wanda reveals to him that she is seeking answers about their true biological mother, Natalya Maximoff (who gave the twins to her relatives Marya and Django to spare them from a difficult life) and asks him to join her. He refuses and the two fight, although Wanda bests Quicksilver and tells him she never wants to see him again. Natalya's spirit later summons Pietro during their final battle against a physical manifestation of Chaos. The twins reconcile after destroying the monster and Pietro is briefly able to meet his mother before she sacrifices herself to save witchcraft. He has also been revealed to have fallen under the telepathic control of the Red Skull, acting as a 'sleeper agent' in the Avengers as part of the Skull's current campaign.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: During the "Secret Empire" storyline, Quicksilver appears as a member of the Underground which is a resistance movement against Hydra, following their take over of the United States. Quicksilver and Hercules lead a strike force to find the Cosmic Cube fragments so that they can use it to restore Captain America and the country to normal.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: During the "Avengers: No Surrender" storyline, Quicksilver is one of the heroes remaining in the cosmic game between Grandmaster and Challenger. He is frozen because of Scarlet Witch’s attempt at reviving the frozen Vision, but the process was later reversed. He later uses his extreme agility and Scarlet Witch's powers to catch the beacon trapping his fellow Avengers, but in doing so he had pushed himself to the limit and apparently died. But in the following mini-storyline of "Quicksilver: No Surrender", it is revealed that he became stuck in an alternate dimension, ultimately getting himself free and returning to the Avengers.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: During the "Empyre" storyline, Quicksilver, Mockingbird, and Wonder Man deal with the Kree and the Skrull's fight with the Cotati near Navojoa. When Quicksilver is hit by special spheres fired by the Cotati magicians, Mockingbird and Wonder Man come to his aid and help the Kree and the Skrull turn the tide against the Cotati. Quicksilver recovers his stamina and uses his super-speed to break up the fight and dispose of the Kree and Skrull weapons in the Gulf of California.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver was originally presented as a mutant capable of moving and thinking at superhuman speeds. Originally capable of running at the speed of sound, exposure to the High Evolutionary's Isotope E made it possible for the character to run at supersonic speeds of up to Mach 10 and resist the effects of friction, reduced oxygen, and kinetic impact while moving at super-speeds. Also, he has a fast metabolism and can heal more rapidly than the average human. His speed allows him to perform such feats as creating cyclone-strength winds and running up walls or across bodies of water. Pietro's mind can perceive information with a photographic memory short term, becoming faster than the speed of thought, because he can shift his thoughts at a speed faster than normal thought. Also, he can cause vibrations in his body to transfer to solid material and has superior agility and reflexes compared to other mutants. It has been revealed that one of the reasons for his abrasive and impatient personality is that it seems to him that the rest of the world is moving in slow motion and that he is constantly waiting for it to catch up. As he once explained, "Have you ever stood in line at a banking machine behind a person who didn't know how to use it?... Now, imagine, Doctor, that everyone you work with, everywhere you go, your entire world is filled with people who can't work cash machines".


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver lost his powers of speed when his sister removed most of his powers, but he gains new powers courtesy of the inhumans' Terrigen Mist. The mist gives Quicksilver the ability to displace himself out of mainstream time and space and "jump" into the future. He can summon several time-displaced duplicates of himself and appear to teleport by "jumping" into the future and then returning to the present at a new location. By voluntarily embedding fragments of the Terrigen Crystals into his own body, he could empower former mutants with extreme versions of their superhuman abilities. However, the effect was usually fatal. The crystals were subsequently forced from his body by the mutant Rictor, leaving him without these abilities. After having a series of hallucinations, Quicksilver saw a woman in mortal danger and felt a desire to be a hero which made him regain his original powers in order to save the woman's life. Later on, Quicksilver regained these enhanced powers of time "jumping" and temporal duplication for a while by physically imbedding the crystals into his flesh.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: It was later revealed that Quicksilver actually was a normal child that was put through several experiments by the High Evolutionary which granted his powers in the first place.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: According to Diamond Comic Distributors, "Avengers Origins: Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver" #1 was the 148th best selling comic book in November 2011.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Peyton Hinckle of "ComicsVerse" said, "Origin stories make superheroes. They tell us about a character’s motivations, dreams, and memories. They’re the perfect insight into why a character becomes a hero (or a villain). As readers, we need origin stories to understand the heroes we love. For a long time, Scarlet Witch and her brother Quicksilver had a half-formulated backstory. At first, they were just members of Magneto’s brotherhood. But, eventually, they realized that they were also Magneto’s children. The older comics don’t give us an up-close look at Wanda’s childhood, so in 2011 writer Sean McKeever tackled retelling Wanda and Pietro’s story in a modern climate. The result was "Avengers Origins: Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver", which finally gave readers the origin story they wanted. If you want to read about Scarlet Witch, but have no idea where to start, this is the issue for you." George Marston of "Newsarama" ranked "Avengers Origins: Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver" 6th in their "The best Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch stories of all time" list, asserting, "In comic books, Wanda and Pietro's time as villains was short-lived, and their prior history wasn't largely explored until years later, through glimpses and scattered stories. But 2011's "Avengers Origins: Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver" takes a deeper dive into the histories of the titular heroes, showing their past and the lead-up to their time with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in a way that wasn't previously told on the page. Wanda and Pietro's history is one of the most unlikely backbones of the Marvel Universe, with their simple origins growing from a throughline between the X-Men and Avengers to the saga of a family tree that has branches throughout Marvel Comics, and "Avengers Origins: Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver" presents a concise and engaging take on their earliest days."


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: According to Diamond Comic Distributors, "Quicksilver: No Surrender" #1 was the 119th best selling comic book in May 2018.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Joe Grunenwald of "ComicsBeat" asserted, ""Quicksilver: No Surrender" #1 is an entertaining first issue about a complicated protagonist. This series spins out of the events of "Avengers: No Surrender", but is still perfectly accessible for new readers (like me), and only briefly mentions previous events before getting into its own story. It’s a solid beginning for the series." Joshua Davison of "Bleeding Cool" called "Quicksilver: No Surrender" #1 a "brilliant character-focused comic," saying, ""Quicksilver: No Surrender #1" starts off on the right foot with a ponderous and self-reflective issue for Pietro Maximoff. Ahmed, Nguyen, and Renzi provide a compelling conflict for our hero with brilliant artwork and stunning color. This one gets a strong recommendation. Give it a read." Aaron Berkowitz of "ComicsVerse" gave "Quicksilver: No Surrender" #1 a score of 90%, writing, "has amazing characterization. Ahmed writes Pietro near-flawlessly. The plot is also incredibly intriguing. I want to know how Pietro gets out of this mess. However, I wasn’t a big fan of the art. Flip through the issue at your local comic shop and decide for yourself. For me, the writing was well worth the read, and may be well worth your $3.99."


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: In the DC/Marvel crossover "JLA/Avengers", Pietro first appears being brainwashed by Starro when the Avengers battle him. Thanks to a combination of Wanda's magic and Ms. Marvel's powers, they manage to get Starro's probe off of him. When he and the other Avengers go to the DC Universe, he becomes fascinated with the Speed Force, seeking to empower by it and defeating The Flash (Wally West), but he fails twice. During the final battle in the Savage Land, he finally defeats the Flash, but only does so because there is no Speed Force in the Marvel Universe. He makes an appearance in the final battle with Krona, but it is very brief. He also appears at the end as one of the heroes that started out the entire event.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: In the limited series "Marvel Zombies", Earth-2149 is contaminated with a virus that turns victims into flesh-eating "zombies", with Quicksilver infected when bitten by a "zombified" Mystique (who at the time was impersonating his sister Wanda). This results in the rapid spread of the zombie virus, as Quicksilver is able to infect hundreds around the world in a short amount of time. The character reappears in the limited series "Marvel Zombies 3", revealed to be working for a "zombified" Wilson Fisk. Quicksilver is eventually lured into a trap by the Earth-616 Machine Man and subsequently destroyed. The zombie virus spreads to a different Quicksilver in 'Earth Z', who is featured in the limited series "Marvel Zombies Return". Here, his body is capable of operating independently of the head.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: When the zombies from Earth-2149 cross over into Earth-Z, Quicksilver is transformed into a zombie, and in Marvel Zombies Return #5 is one of the few remaining zombies left who fought against Spider-Man and his New Avengers, attempting to steal a canister containing the 'cure' that Spider-Man had developed, only for the wall-crawler to accidentally pull Quicksilver's head off when trying to catch him with his webbing. He was killed by a cyborg Iron Man.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Limited series Marvel 1602 depicts Quicksilver as Petros, the assistant (and secretly, son) of the High Inquisitor of the Spanish Catholic Church, Enrique.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Ultimate Marvel features a version of the character warped by constant abuse from Magneto. As a teenager, he was capable of reaching speeds of Mach 10.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: After he and his sister, the Scarlet Witch, defected from their father's Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy, they joined the Ultimates. The twin siblings also share an incestuous relationship. During the Ultimate X-Men's Magnetic North story arc, he watched over his father while he was imprisoned in the Triskelion, and threatened to kill him. In "The Ultimates 3", he and his sister are apparently killed; however, Quicksilver later resurfaced at the end of the Absolute Power story arc, and killed Moira MacTaggert.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: In "Ultimatum" #5, Quicksilver assassinated Cyclops as he is giving a speech at Washington, D.C., using the same bullet that was used to murder the Scarlet Witch.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Following the deaths of major characters of the X-Men and the Brotherhood, Pietro began to search for new Brotherhood team members. Mystique, Sabretooth and Teddy (the son of Blob) joined him in Wundagore, along with an apparently reborn Wanda.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Following his sister's orders, Quicksilver tried to help the White House, only resulting in the death of many mutants at the hands of Nimrod Model Sentinels, which were controlled by the Reverend Stryker before his death. When Pietro arrived in Egypt, he met his father, Erik, completely alive. However, this was revealed to be an illusion from Sinister. He attempts to manipulate his younger half-brother, Jimmy Hudson, but is defeated.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Later, he helps Reed Richards assemble some of the Infinity Gems and joins his team of Dark Ultimates. Quicksilver is fatally wounded after he turns against Richards and Kang, and chooses to die by Wanda's graveside.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Pietro later appeared to have been somehow brought back to life. He witnessed an instance of the cosmic phenomenon known as an incursion, the one which caused a collision between the planet Earth of his universe and that of an alternate reality, Earth-616, that resulted in the destruction of both universes.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: When the Multiverse was eventually rebuilt, Quicksilver and the other foreign mutants, namely Jimmy, Nomi Blume aka Mach Two, and Hisako Ichiki aka Armor, were abducted by super-villain geneticist Miss Sinister, who brainwashed and turned them into her personal enforcers, the New Marauders. When Jimmy's natural resistance to telepathy allowed him to break free from Miss Sinister's control and he went rogue, the New Marauders were deployed to retrieve him. In the process, they confronted the Time-Displaced Original X-Men, who had tracked down Jimmy after he was detected by Cerebro. Following a brief confrontation against the X-Men and Jimmy, during which Marvel Girl learned of Miss Sinister's involvement, the New Marauders were ordered by their superior to leave.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch appear in the "What If?" story "What If the X-Men Died on their First Mission?" as allies of Beast following the demise of the X-Men and upon the menace by Count Nefaria and his Ani-Men. Although invited to join the newly formed team upon the success of their mission, both decline in favor of their current commitments, although they promise their aid if they are needed.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: In the one-shot "X-Men Noir", Peter Magnus is a former college track star, and works in the Homicide Department of the NYPD with his father: , Chief Detective and the leader of The Brotherhood.


title: Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)

text: Marvel licensed the filming rights of the X-Men and related concepts, such as mutants, to 20th Century Fox, who created a film series based on the franchise. Years later, Marvel started their own film franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which focused on characters that they had not licensed to other studios, such as the Avengers. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were part of a dispute between the two studios. Fox would claim the rights over them because they were both mutants and children of Magneto, the villain of most of their films, while Marvel would also claim those rights because the editorial history of the characters in comic books is more associated with the Avengers rather than the X-Men. The studios came to an agreement that allowed both to use the characters, with the condition that they could not make reference to the other studio's properties. The Fox films could not mention them as members of the Avengers while the Marvel films could not mention them as mutants or children of Magneto. The arrangement became moot following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney - the parent company of Marvel Studios, and the confirmation that future X-Men films will take place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.


title: Valletta

text: Valletta (, , ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 was 6,444. According to the data from 2020 by Eurostat, the Functional Urban Area and metropolitan region covered the whole island and has a population of 480,134. Valletta is the southernmost capital of Europe, and at just , it is the European Union's smallest capital city.


title: Valletta

text: Valletta's 16th-century buildings were constructed by the Knights Hospitaller. The city was named after Jean Parisot de Valette, who succeeded in defending the island from an Ottoman invasion during the Great Siege of Malta. The city is Baroque in character, with elements of Mannerist, Neo-Classical and Modern architecture, though the Second World War left major scars on the city, particularly the destruction of the Royal Opera House. The city was officially recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980. Today, with 320 monuments, is one of the most dense monuments areas in the world. Sometimes called an "open-air museum", Valletta was chosen as the European Capital of Culture in 2018. Valletta is also the sunniest city in Europe.


title: Valletta

text: The city is noted for its fortifications, consisting of bastions, curtains and cavaliers, along with the beauty of its Baroque palaces, gardens and churches.


title: Valletta

text: The peninsula was previously called "Xagħret Mewwija" (Mu' awiya – Meuia; named during the Arab period) or Ħal Newwija. Mewwija refers to a sheltered place. Some authors state that the extreme end of the peninsula was known as Xebb ir-Ras (Sheb point), of which name origins from the lighthouse on site. A family which surely owned land became known as "Sceberras", now a Maltese surname as Sciberras. At one point the entire peninsula became known as Sceberras.


title: Valletta

text: Recent scholarly studies have however shown that the Xeberras phrase is of Punic origin and means 'the headland' and 'the middle peninsula' as it actually is.


title: Valletta

text: The building of a city on the Sciberras Peninsula had been proposed by the Order of Saint John as early as 1524. Back then, the only building on the peninsula was a small watchtower dedicated to Erasmus of Formia (Saint Elmo), which had been built in 1488.


title: Valletta

text: In 1552, the Aragonite watchtower was demolished and the larger Fort Saint Elmo was built in its place.


title: Valletta

text: In the Great Siege of 1565, Fort Saint Elmo fell to the Ottomans, but the Order eventually won the siege with the help of Sicilian reinforcements. The victorious Grand Master, Jean de Valette, immediately set out to build a new fortified city on the Sciberras Peninsula to fortify the Order's position in Malta and bind the Knights to the island. The city took his name and was called "La Valletta".


title: Valletta

text: The Grand Master asked the European kings and princes for help, receiving a lot of assistance due to the increased fame of the Order after their victory in the Great Siege. Pope Pius V sent his military architect, Francesco Laparelli, to design the new city, while Philip II of Spain sent substantial monetary aid. The foundation stone of the city was laid by Grand Master de Valette on 28 March 1566. He placed the first stone in what later became Our Lady of Victories Church.


title: Valletta

text: In his book "Dell’Istoria della Sacra Religione et Illustrissima Militia di San Giovanni Gierosolimitano" (), written between 1594 and 1602, Giacomo Bosio writes that when the cornerstone of Valletta was placed, a group of Maltese elders said: ""Iegi zimen en fel wardia col sceber raba iesue uquie"" (Which in modern Maltese reads, ""Jiġi żmien li fil-Wardija [l-Għolja Sciberras] kull xiber raba' jiswa uqija"", and in English, "There will come a time when every piece of land on Sciberras Hill will be worth its weight in gold").


title: Valletta

text: De Valette died from a stroke on 21 August 1568 at age 74 and never saw the completion of his city. Originally interred in the church of Our Lady of the Victories, his remains now rest in St. John's Co-Cathedral among the tombs of other Grand Masters of the Knights of Malta.


title: Valletta

text: Francesco Laparelli was the city's principal designer and his plan departed from medieval Maltese architecture, which exhibited irregular winding streets and alleys. He designed the new city on a rectangular grid plan, and without any "collacchio" (an area restricted for important buildings). The streets were designed to be wide and straight, beginning centrally from the City Gate and ending at Fort Saint Elmo (which was rebuilt) overlooking the Mediterranean; certain bastions were built high. His assistant was the Maltese architect Girolamo Cassar, who later oversaw the construction of the city himself after Laparelli's death in 1570.


title: Valletta

text: The city of Valletta was mostly completed by the early 1570s, and it became the capital on 18 March 1571 when Grand Master Pierre de Monte moved from his seat at Fort St Angelo in Birgu to the Grandmaster's Palace in Valletta.


title: Valletta

text: Seven Auberges were built for the Order's Langues, and these were complete by the 1580s. An eighth Auberge, Auberge de Bavière, was later added in the 18th century.


title: Valletta

text: In Antoine de Paule's reign, it was decided to build more fortifications to protect Valletta, and these were named the Floriana Lines after the architect who designed them, Pietro Paolo Floriani of Macerata. During António Manoel de Vilhena's reign, a town began to form between the walls of Valletta and the Floriana Lines, and this evolved from a suburb of Valletta to Floriana, a town in its own right.


title: Valletta

text: In 1634, a gunpowder factory explosion killed 22 people in Valletta. In 1749, Muslim slaves plotted to kill Grandmaster Pinto and take over Valletta, but the revolt was suppressed before it even started due to their plans leaking out to the Order. Later on in his reign, Pinto embellished the city with Baroque architecture, and many important buildings such as Auberge de Castille were remodeled or completely rebuilt in the new architectural style.


title: Valletta

text: In 1775, during the reign of Ximenes, an unsuccessful revolt known as the Rising of the Priests occurred in which Fort Saint Elmo and Saint James Cavalier were captured by rebels, but the revolt was eventually suppressed.


title: Valletta

text: In 1798, the French invaded the island and expelled the Order. After the Maltese rebelled, French troops continued to occupy Valletta and the surrounding harbour area, until they capitulated to the British in September 1800. In the early 19th century, the British Civil Commissioner, Henry Pigot, agreed to demolish the majority of the city's fortifications. The demolition was again proposed in the 1870s and 1880s, but it was never carried out and the fortifications have survived largely intact.


title: Valletta

text: Eventually building projects in Valletta resumed under British rule. These projects included widening gates, demolishing and rebuilding structures, widening newer houses over the years, and installing civic projects. The Malta Railway, which linked Valletta to Mdina, was officially opened in 1883. It was closed down in 1931 after buses became a popular means of transport.


title: Valletta

text: In 1939, Valletta was abandoned as the headquarters of the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet due to its proximity to Italy and the city became a flash point during the subsequent two-year long Siege of Malta. German and Italian air raids throughout the Second World War caused much destruction in Valletta and the rest of the harbor area. The Royal Opera House, constructed at the city entrance in the 19th century, was one of the buildings lost to the raids.


title: Valletta

text: The entire city of Valletta has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980, along with Megalithic Temples of Malta and the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni. On 11 November 2015 Valletta hosted the Valletta Summit on Migration in which European and African leaders discussed the European migrant crisis. After that, on 27 November 2015 the city also hosted part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015.


title: Valletta

text: The Valletta Local Council was established by the Local Councils Act of 1993, along with the other local councils of Malta. The first election was held on 20 November 1993. Other elections were held in 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2013, 2017.


title: Valletta

text: Valletta is the capital city of Malta, and is the country's administrative and commercial hub. The Parliament of Malta has been housed at the Parliament House near the city's entrance since 2015: it was previously housed at the Grandmaster's Palace in the city centre. The latter palace still houses the Office of the President of Malta, while the Auberge de Castille houses the Office of the Prime Minister of Malta. The courthouse and many government departments are also located in Valletta.


title: Valletta

text: The Valletta peninsula has two natural harbours, Marsamxett and the Grand Harbour. The Grand Harbour is Malta's major port, with unloading quays at nearby Marsa. A cruise-liner terminal is located along the old seawall of the Valletta Waterfront that Portuguese Grandmaster Manuel Pinto da Fonseca built.


title: Valletta

text: Valletta features a Mediterranean climate (Köppen "Csa") with very mild, wet winters and warm to hot, slightly long, dry summers, with an average annual temperature above during the day and . Valletta experiences a lack of precipitation during the summer months and most of the precipitation happens during the winter months. Winter temperatures are moderated by the surrounding sea, as a result, the city has very mild winters. The official climate recording station in Malta is at Luqa Airport, which is a few miles inland from Valletta. Average high temperatures range from around in January to about in August, while average low temperatures range from around in January to in August.


title: Valletta

text: The architecture of Valletta's streets and piazzas ranges from mid-16th century Baroque to Modernism. The city is the island's principal cultural center and has a unique collection of churches, palaces and museums and act as one of the city's main visitor attractions. When Benjamin Disraeli, future British Prime Minister, visited the city in 1830, he described it as "a city of palaces built by gentlemen for gentlemen," and remarked that "Valletta equals in its noble architecture, if it does not excel, any capital in Europe," and in other letters called it "comparable to Venice and Cádiz" and "full of palaces worthy of Palladio."


title: Valletta

text: Buildings of historic importance include St John's Co-Cathedral, formerly the Conventual Church of the Knights of Malta. It has the only signed work and largest painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. The Auberge de Castille et Leon, formerly the official seat of the Knights of Malta of the Langue of Castille, Léon and Portugal, is now the office of the Prime Minister of Malta. The Grandmaster's Palace, built between 1571 and 1574 and formerly the seat of the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, used to house the Maltese Parliament, now situated in a purpose-built structure at the entrance to the city, and now houses the offices of the President of Malta.


title: Valletta

text: The National Museum of Fine Arts is a Rococo palace dating back to the late 1570s, which served as the official residence of the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet during the British era from the 1820s onwards. The Manoel Theatre () was constructed in just ten months in 1731, by order of Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena, and is one of the oldest working theatres in Europe. The Mediterranean Conference Centre was formerly the Sacra Infermeria. Built in 1574, it was one of Europe's most renowned hospitals during the Renaissance. The fortifications of the port, built by the Knights as a magnificent series of bastions, demi-bastions, cavaliers and curtains, approximately high, all contribute to the unique architectural quality of the city.


title: Valletta

text: Eurostat estimates the labour force in 2015 for the greater Valletta area at around 91,000 people. This corresponds to a share of just under 50 percent of Malta. As in Malta as a whole, tourism is an important economic sector. The most important tourism zone is the area surrounding the Grand Harbour. For the cruise industry, after several years of planning, work began in 2002 to build the Valletta Waterfront Project, a cruise terminal, in the Grand Harbour. There is also a publishing house in Valletta, Allied Newspapers ltd, a media company. This company publishes the two market-leading newspapers, Times of Malta and The Sunday Times of Malta.


title: Valletta

text: The Valletta Campus of the University of Malta is situated in the Old University Building. It serves as an extension of the Msida Campus, especially offering international masters programmes.


title: Valletta

text: A church school, "St. Albert the Great", is also situated in Valletta. The Headmaster is Alternattiva Demokratika politician Mario Mallia.


title: Valletta

text: Valletta was designated European Capital of Culture for 2018. The year was inaugurated with an event called Erba' Pjazez (Four Squares), with shows focused in 4 plazas in the city – Triton Square, St. George's Square, St. John's Square, and Castille Square – along with other shows in other points. This was followed by the unveiling of a public art installation, Kif Jgħid il-Malti (Maltese Sayings), which featured a number of Maltese language proverb figured in gypsum, in order to engage linguistic heritage.


title: Valletta

text: Saint James Cavalier, originally a raised gun platform, was converted into a Centre of Creativity in the year 2000 as part of Malta's Millennium Project. It now houses a small theatre, a cinema, music rooms and art galleries. Various exhibitions are regularly held there. It has welcomed over a million visitors since opening.


title: Valletta

text: The Valletta International Baroque Festival is held every year in January. Jazz music in Malta was introduced in the Strait Street area, frequented by Allied sailors during both World Wars. Malta's Jazz Festival took place here. Strait Street is also known as "The Gut". This area is undergoing a programme of regeneration. The city's dual band clubs are the "King's Own Band Club" () and "La Valette National Philharmonic Society" ().