title: Bradford

text: In terms of nationally recognised leading areas of research there are various departments such as Institute of Cancer Therapeutics, Bradford School of Pharmacy, Peace Studies, Archaeology, Engineering, Management, Centre for Skin Sciences amongst others. The university balances academic research and teaching quality with a strong tradition of social inclusion. The University of Bradford was ranked second in the UK for graduate employment by the Times Higher Education Supplement in 2005.


title: Bradford

text: The University of Bradford School of Management was in 2011 rated the 14th best business school in the UK by the "Financial Times".


title: Bradford

text: Bradford College developed from the 19th-century technical college whose buildings it inherited. It offers further and higher educational courses and is an Associate College of Leeds Metropolitan University and is the UK's largest provider of higher-education courses outside the university sector, with 23,000 students and 1,800 staff. It absorbed the Art School whose most famous alumnus is David Hockney.


title: Bradford

text: Whilst in Bradford after 1892, Margaret McMillan joined the Fabian Society and the Independent Labour Party. Working with her sister, Rachel, she set about improving the welfare of children living in the slums, and campaigned for free school meals. A memorial college to Margaret McMillan was opened in 1952.


title: Bradford

text: Two carved stones, probably parts of a Saxon preaching cross, were found on the site of Bradford Cathedral. They indicate that Christians may have worshipped here since Paulinus of York came to the north of England in AD 627 on a mission to convert Northumbria. He preached in Dewsbury and it was from there that Bradford was first evangelised. The vicars of Bradford later paid dues to that parish. The most prominent Christian church in Bradford is Bradford Cathedral, originally the Parish Church of St Peter. The parish was in existence by 1283, and there was a stone church on the rock shelf above Bradford Beck by 1327. The Diocese of Bradford was created from part of the Diocese of Ripon in 1919, and the church became a cathedral at that time. Bradford has over 150 churches and chapels. Many of the Roman Catholic churches that are found within the city are a legacy of the large Irish population that migrated to Bradford in the 19th century.


title: Bradford

text: The patron saint of Bradford is Saint Blaise because of his patronage of wool combing, and his statue features on the Wool Exchange in the centre of the city. There is also a statue of the saint in St Cuthbert's Catholic Church, Wilmer Road, also noted as the location of the famous Stations of the Cross by Eric Gill.


title: Bradford

text: The district has a tradition of nonconformity which is reflected in the number of chapels erected by Congregationalists, Baptists and Methodists. The city was a centre of the House Church movement in the 1980s, and the Christian charity Christians Against Poverty was founded in the city. Other house churches in the city include El Shaddai International Christian Centre and the World Outreach Church. Bradford is also home to the LIFE Church UK, a large nonconforming Church, that has around 3,000 members.


title: Bradford

text: The Jewish community was strong in the middle to late 19th century and built Bradford Reform Synagogue in Manningham. This, "The oldest reform synagogue outside London", was established by German Jews who had moved to Bradford for the wool trade. According to historian Sharman Kadish, "The city of Bradford was unique in that it boasted a reform synagogue before it acquired an orthodox one". In 1881 Russian Jews made their home in Bradford, having fled their homeland, and founded an orthodox synagogue.


title: Bradford

text: The city has a sizeable South Asian community and the Lakshmi Narayan mandir which opened in April 2008 is the largest Hindu temple in northern England. There is a Hindu temple and community centre on Thornton Lane and smaller house-based mandirs.


title: Bradford

text: The Sikh community has six gurudwaras in the city. The Sikh festival of Vaisakhi is celebrated on 14 April. Sikhs travel to each of the gurudwaras in the city in a procession called a "nagar kirtan".


title: Bradford

text: The National Science and Media Museum hosts the Bradford International Film Festival annually in March.


title: Bradford

text: In June 2009 Bradford was designated the world's first UNESCO City of Film for its links to the production and distribution of films, its media and film museum and its "cinematographic legacy". "Becoming the world's first City of Film is the ultimate celebration of Bradford's established and dynamic history in film and media," said Colin Philpott, director of Bradford's National Media Museum. "With the UNESCO City of Film designation, Bradford will now go on to achieve inspirational projects in film." Simon Beaufoy from Bradford, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Slumdog Millionaire", said the city had played a crucial role in the story of cinema and deserved to be recognised.


title: Bradford

text: Bradford has developed a relationship with Bollywood, hosting the International Indian Film Festival awards in 2007.


title: Bradford

text: The Bradford Animation Festival is the UK's longest-running animation festival. Held each November, the festival hosts an array of screentalks, workshops and special events. The festival culminates in the annual BAF Awards which celebrate new animation from around the world.


title: Bradford

text: The Cottingley Fairy photographs taken by Elsie Wright and two of the cameras used are on display in the Kodak Gallery in the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford.


title: Bradford

text: There are four theatres in Bradford. The Alhambra also has a smaller studio theatre in the same complex. These are operated by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. The Theatre in the Mill is a small studio theatre at the University of Bradford, which presents student and community shows and small-scale touring professional work. The Bradford Playhouse is a privately run venue with a medium-sized proscenium theatre and a small studio.


title: Bradford

text: Among the professional theatre companies based in Bradford are "Kala Sangam", the satirical madcap comedy troop, "Komedy Kollective", "Lost Dog" (based at Theatre in the Mill) and "Mind the Gap", one of the longest established, who have always worked with a mixture of disabled and able-bodied performers. Groups and organisations teaching theatre include The "Asian Theatre School", Bradford Stage and Theatre School and "Stage 84". There are also a number of amateur theatre groups.


title: Bradford

text: St George's Hall is a concert hall dating from 1853 making it the oldest concert hall in Britain and the third oldest in Europe. Bradford Festival Choral Society was founded to perform at the inaugural "Bradford Musical Festival" that took place in August of that year, and the choir is still a part of the musical life of the city. The Hallé Orchestra have been regular visitors over the years, as have a wide range of popular musicians, bands, entertainers, comedians and theatrical productions.


title: Bradford

text: In 2017 an £8.2 million renovation scheme of St George's Hall was started, after completion it is planned for the concert venue to re-open in late 2018.


title: Bradford

text: Cinemas have been replaced by vast entertainment complexes with multi-screen cinemas. The "Leisure Exchange" in the city centre has a 16 screen Cineworld. At Thornbury, on the outskirts is the Odeon Leeds-Bradford with 13 screens which replaced the old Odeon next to the Alhambra which is the continuing focus of protests by Bradfordians who do not wish to see the old building demolished. The University of Bradford also has a cinema run by the Students' Union, operating from the university's Great Hall.


title: Bradford

text: Nightlife in Bradford has traditionally centred on Manor Row and Manningham Lane. More recently, several clubs and pubs have opened in the West End of Bradford, around the Alhambra Theatre, turning what was a previously fairly quiet area into one that is often crowded and vibrant at night. North Parade has also seen several new themed bars open and is at the heart of the Independent Quarter of the city. Sunbridge Wells is an underground leisure and retail complex which opened in Bradford city centre in 2016.


title: Bradford

text: Bradford was one of the first areas of the UK to get a local commercial radio station Pennine Radio in September 1975. Today, this is Pulse 1 and Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire. , Bradford Community Broadcasting based in the city centre has broadcast on full-time Community Radio licence around Bradford and the Aire Valley, whilst the university radio station Ramair broadcasts to the student population. Bradford's only television station AAP TV caters for Bradford's large Asian community. The "Telegraph and Argus" is Bradford's daily newspaper, published six days each week from Monday to Saturday.


title: Bradford

text: The Bradford Mela is now part of the bigger Bradford Festival which takes place in June. The word mela is Sanskrit for 'a gathering' or 'to meet'. In the UK, melas provide an opportunity for communities to come together to celebrate and share their cultures. Mela festivals include a combination of markets, funfairs, food and drink, arts and workshops, children's activities, strolling entertainment and a variety of music and dance performances on a number of stages. Bradford held the first mela in Europe in September 1988 and it is presently held in Bradford City Park.


title: Bradford

text: Bradford is home to the acclaimed National Science and Media Museum (previously the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television) which celebrates cinema and movies, and is the most visited museum outside London. It contains the UK's first IMAX theatre, the Cubby Broccoli Cinema, and the Pictureville Cinema — described by David Puttnam as the best cinema in Britain.


title: Bradford

text: Bradford Industrial Museum was established in 1974 at Moorside Mills, a spinning mill in Eccleshill. The Museum celebrates and explains the significant achievements in Bradford's industrial past, from textiles and printing to the manufacture of motor cars.


title: Bradford

text: A mile from the city centre is Bolling Hall Museum, a part medieval building which offers visitors a journey through the lives and times of the families for which it provided a home for over five hundred years. Rooms are furnished and decorated to give a taste of life at different periods of the house's history.


title: Bradford

text: Bradford's main art gallery is housed in Cartwright Hall in Lister Park. Bradford 1 Gallery is a city centre art gallery opened in October 2007 in a new building in Centenary Square. The gallery shows four temporary exhibitions a year.


title: Bradford

text: The "Bradford Museums & Galleries" has a collection items relating to Herbert Morley (explorer) and "Mitch the printmaker".


title: Bradford

text: Impressions Gallery is an independent contemporary photography gallery with a temporary exhibitions programme showing on average six exhibitions each year. The gallery moved from York to Centenary Square, Bradford, in 2007.


title: Bradford

text: Bradford is the home town of rock bands New Model Army, Anti System, Smokie, Southern Death Cult, The Cult, The Scene, Redwire, Chantel McGregor, One Minute Silence, Scars on 45, Terrorvision, My Dying Bride and hip hop group Fun-Da-Mental.


title: Bradford

text: Singer-songwriters Tasmin Archer, Teddy Sinclair and Kiki Dee—the first white British artist to be signed by Motown—also hail from the city.


title: Bradford

text: Since the 1980s, Bradford has proved influential within the UK's punk rock scene, primarily because of the 1 in 12 Club, a music venue and anarchist workers' cooperative and members' club. 1980s groups such as Sore Throat, Anti System and late-era Doom all based themselves around the club, as did 1990s groups such as Voorhees and Ironside.


title: Bradford

text: In 2002 Gareth Gates came second in the first series of "Pop Idol" and went on to achieve four UK number one singles before enjoying success in musical theatre. Kimberly Walsh achieved major success after winning a place in the girl band Girls Aloud in "" later in the same year, and in 2010 Zayn Malik came third in "The X Factor" with his boy band One Direction, who in March 2012 became the first British group to go straight to the top of the US music charts with their debut album.


title: Bradford

text: In 2013 Bradford was again crowned "Curry Capital of Britain" after seeing off other strong contenders such as Glasgow and Wolverhampton. Bradford scored highly not just for the quality of food and service offered by each of the restaurants, but also for food hygiene, a deep understanding of the curry restaurant sector and its success in collectively raising funds for food charity The Curry Tree, which seeks to alleviate the plight of the poor in South East Asia. The judges were also particularly impressed by Bradford's International Food Academy and Jamie's Ministry of Food, which teaches the districts residents how to cook quick, simple, healthy and cost-effective meals.


title: Bradford

text: Bradford has a long sporting tradition, and Bradford Bulls, formerly Bradford Northern, is one of the most successful rugby league clubs in the world, winning the World Club Championship three times since 2002 and seven times winners of the Rugby Football League Championship. Bradford Bulls play at the Grattan Stadium, Odsal, formerly Odsal Stadium. The city is also home to a number of rugby union clubs—Bradford Salem are based in the Heaton area and Wibsey RFC can be found to the south of the city centre. The Richard Dunn Sports Centre is located close to the Odsal and the sports facilities at the university are also open to the public at certain times.


title: Bradford

text: Bradford City Football Club was formed in 1903. James Whyte, a sub-editor of the "Bradford Observer" met with Football Association representative, John Brunt, in January to discuss plans, and in May, Manningham RFC, a rugby league team decided to change codes to association football. The Football League subsequently elected Bradford City to the league, with a total of 30 votes to replace Doncaster Rovers, because it saw the invitation as a chance to introduce football to the rugby-dominated county. Eight years after the club was elected to the league, City won the FA Cup and recorded the highest league position in its history. They currently compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The ground suffered one of the worst all-time sporting disasters after 56 people died at Valley Parade on 11 May 1985. A second club from the city, Bradford Park Avenue played in the Football League until it dropped out in 1970, then went into liquidation in 1974. The club now plays in the National League North, which means the Bradford derby has not been played in years. Bradford Park Avenue hosted county cricket for Yorkshire as well as football.


title: Bradford

text: The defunct Bradford Dukes speedway team raced at Odsal. Speedway was staged at Greenfields Stadium in the pioneer days, when it was known as the Autodrome in the early 1960s. Odsal opened its doors in 1945 and continued in the late 1950s. It entered a team in the 1960 Provincial League then fell dormant until the 1970s when it re-opened. The track staged a Speedway World Final. The speedway team rode under a number of names—probably the longest running was Bradford Northern—in common with the Rugby League team. This was changed to Bradford Barons—emulating the more successful Halifax Dukes. Eventually the Halifax team was brought to Bradford under the name Bradford Dukes.


title: Bradford

text: Joe Johnson is a retired professional snooker player from Bradford who won the 1986 World Snooker Championship.


title: Bradford

text: Jasmin Atker is a Bradford student who captained the first England team in the international Street Child Cricket World Cup, and was named one of the BBC 100 top inspiring women in 2019.


title: Bradford

text: The Bradford Dragons are the city's basketball team, competing in the second tier English Basketball League Division 1. The team play their home games at Bradford College.


title: Bradford

text: The city also has a history of skateboarding culture; in Ian Glasper's 2012 book "Armed with Anger", the city was described as "West Yorkshire's de facto skate capital".


title: Bradford

text: After a campaign in 2008, Bradford was recognised as a 'City of Sanctuary' on 18 November 2010. Bradford is "a place where a broad range of local organisations, community groups and faith communities, as well as local government are publicly committed to welcoming and including people seeking sanctuary." The city has a history of welcoming newcomers from throughout the world. An example of this was Bradford's purchase of the Carlton Hostel building in 1939 as part of a "Kindertransport" scheme, made possible through donations from both Bradford's Jewish community and non–Jews, to house German Jewish refugee children during the Second World War.


title: Bradford

text: There are two major hospitals in Bradford: Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital. Both are teaching hospitals and are operated by Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS trust. Over the years the Trust has subsumed a number of smaller hospitals; these include Woodlands Orthopaedic Hospital, Northern View and Bierley Hall.


title: Bradford

text: Bradford is the focus of one of the UK's largest ever birth cohort studies, known as "Born in Bradford". Partly supported by European funding, it is the result of close collaboration between the University of Bradford, the NHS and other institutions in West Yorkshire. It will track the lives of all the babies born in the city from 2006 to 2008 and aims to provide a wealth of data, allowing health researchers the opportunity to investigate many different aspects of health and wellbeing.


title: Bradford

text: Bradford has been the scene of some high-profile crimes such as the shooting of Bradford PC Sharon Beshenivsky while responding to a burglary in the city. In May 2010, Stephen Griffiths was charged with the Bradford murders.


title: Bradford

text: The Manningham Riot occurred between 10 and 12 June 1995, in Manningham and the 2001 Bradford race riots began on 7 July 2001 as a result of tension between ethnic minority communities and the city's white majority, stoked by the Anti-Nazi League and the National Front. There were 297 arrests; 187 people charged with riot, 45 with violent disorder leading to 200 jail sentences totalling 604 years.


title: Bradford

text: Among Bradford born people who made significant contributions to the arts were David Hockney, painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who was born in the city and educated at Bradford Grammar School. Frederick Delius (1862–1934) was a composer born to a family of German descent in the city and J.B. Priestley (1894–1984) was a novelist and playwright. Sir William Rothenstein was a painter, draughtsman and writer on art who was principal of the Royal College of Art from 1920 to 1935. In the genre of classical music Rodney Friend is an English violinist, born (1940), in 1964 he became the youngest ever leader of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In the field of science and medicine, Friederich Wilhelm Eurich (1867–1945), professor of forensic medicine and bacteriologist, did much to conquer anthrax in the wool trade.


title: Bradford

text: In the field of industry, Sir Jacob Behrens (1806–1889) was an Anglo–German textile merchant who was instrumental in Bradford becoming a major exporter of woollen goods.


title: Bradford

text: A social reformer who campaigned against child labour, Richard Oastler (1789–1861), is commemorated by a statue in Northgate and the Oastler Shopping Centre located close to the Kirkgate Shopping Centre W.E. Forster (1818–1886), was MP for Bradford and, commemorated by statue, is the namesake of Forster Square.


title: Bradford

text: In recent pop culture the former participant of "The X Factor", Zayn Malik, former member of successful boy band One Direction, was born and raised in Bradford. American film star Aasif Mandvi grew up in Bradford.


title: Bradford

text: The city has a rich heritage in film production and many films and TV productions have been filmed in the city. Films using Bradford as a location include "Room at the Top" (1959); "Billy Liar" (1963); "The Railway Children" (1970), a children's film shot around Haworth including the Bronte Parsonage; "Yanks" (1979), starring Richard Gere; "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life" (1983), with footage filmed in Lister Park; "" (1997) starring Harvey Keitel, based on the story of the Cottingley Fairies; and "East is East" (1997), in which Oak Lane is shown when the family visit the city.


title: Bradford

text: The Buttershaw area of the city featured in the film "Rita, Sue and Bob Too" (1987), in which two 16-year-old girls were involved in a love triangle with a wealthy married man (played by George Costigan). The film was created by local Andrea Dunbar, and was initially unpopular with local residents due to its negative image of the area, but has since earned itself a good reputation in the local community as Buttershaw's claim to fame. The award-winning 2013 film "The Selfish Giant" takes place in and around Bradford.


title: Bradford

text: In the BBC political satire "The Amazing Mrs Pritchard" (2006), the Prime Minister considers a proposal to move Parliament to Bradford, as it is closer to the geographic centre of the country than London. The 2008 "Spooks" spin-off for BBC Three, "", was filmed in the city, as were the television adaptation of the "Red Riding" works by David Peace first broadcast in 2009. Bradford was the focus of a 2012 Channel 4 documentary, "Make Bradford British", which examined the level of integration between the city's Christian and Muslim communities. Series 2 of "The Syndicate", which aired in 2013 on BBC One, featured a syndicate involving workers at a public hospital in Bradford. Scenes for the second season of "All Creatures Great and Small" were filmed in Little Germany in April 2021, featuring child and adult actors from the theatre school Articulate.


title: Bradford

text: Bradford features under the name of "Broadbeck" in the best-selling 1912 novel "Windyridge" by Bradford novelist Willie Riley. Link, the main character of the 1993 novel "Stone Cold", is from Bradford.


title: Hannah Murray

text: Tegan Lauren-Hannah Murray (born 1 July 1989) is an English actress. She played Cassie in "Skins" (2007–2008, 2013) and Gilly in the HBO fantasy series "Game of Thrones" (2012–2019), for which she has been nominated along with her castmates for three Screen Actors Guild Awards. Her film roles include the 2014 musical romance film Stuart Murdoch's "God Help The Girl" which won her a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and 2015 drama film Jeppe Rønde's "Bridgend" for which she won the Tribeca Film Festival for Best Actress Award.


title: Hannah Murray

text: Between her screen roles she appeared on stage in Polly Stenham's play "That Face" in West End (2008) and in the Off West End play "Martine" (2014).


title: Hannah Murray

text: Murray was born on 1 July 1989 in Bristol. Her parents work at Bristol University, her father as a professor and her mother as a research technician. She earned an English degree at Queens' College, Cambridge. She attended North Bristol Post 16 Centre, and was a member of the Bristol Old Vic Young Company.


title: Hannah Murray

text: At the age of 17, Murray heard about an audition for young actors in Bristol, and decided to audition for the experience. The auditions were for the E4 teen drama series "Skins". She impressed the producers of the series and was cast as Cassie Ainsworth, a gentle and creative but self-destructive teenager with an eating disorder. Murray and April Pearson were the first two to be cast on the show. Murray went on to appear in the first two series, from 2007 to 2008. She left at the end of the show's second series to make way for a new generation of characters. On the decision to replace the cast, Murray has said that "it would be really silly to be in a teenage drama if you're no longer a teenager".


title: Hannah Murray

text: Following "Skins" in May 2008, Murray made her stage debut as Mia in the critically acclaimed "That Face", a West End production at the Duke of York's Theatre. She was highly praised for her acting in the play, and it was considered a milestone in her career. That same year, she had a small role in the black comedy "In Bruges", but her scene was cut from the film.


title: Hannah Murray

text: In 2009, Murray appeared in the ITV adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?", playing Dorothy Savage. She also appeared in the thriller film "Womb" (2010). Later that year, Murray starred in an adaptation of Enda Walsh's "Chatroom". The film premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. In early January, she appeared in the British television thriller "Above Suspicion: the Red Dahlia", an adaptation of Linda La Plante's novel, in a small role.


title: Hannah Murray

text: On 8 August 2011, HBO confirmed that Murray would portray Gilly in the second and third seasons of "Game of Thrones". She was upgraded to a series regular for the fourth season. Her character is a young woman who has a baby by her own father, and becomes protected by the character Samwell Tarly. In 2012, she appeared in the action thriller film "The Numbers Station".


title: Hannah Murray

text: In 2013, Murray appeared in a two-episode feature, in the seventh and final series of "Skins", where she reprised her role as a more serious, solemn, and independent adult Cassie Ainsworth. She also starred in the music video for "Your Cover's Blown" by Belle & Sebastian.


title: Hannah Murray

text: In 2014, Murray starred in "God Help the Girl", about three musicians in Glasgow. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2014, and Murray shared the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for the Delightful Ensemble Performance. Later that year she continued her role as Gilly in "Game of Thrones" season 4. She also starred in the acclaimed revival of Jean-Jacques Bernard’s play "Martine", playing the title role. Her performance was considered one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking of the year by the public and critics, and she was nominated for Best Female Performance at the Off West End Awards.


title: Hannah Murray

text: Murray starred in "Lily & Kat" (2015), an independent American film and the first feature directed by Micael Preysler, about inseparable best friends who struggle to make the best of their last few days together, savouring the city nightlife with an enigmatic artist one of them takes a liking to.


title: Hannah Murray

text: In 2015 she played Sara in the Danish film "Bridgend", based on the Bridgend suicides of South Wales. The film premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival, and received positive reviews. The film then had its North American premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival where it won 3 awards, including Murray for Best Actress.


title: Hannah Murray

text: In 2016 Murray played Sylvia Ageloff, a young Jewish American intellectual from Brooklyn and a confidante of Trotsky, in the film "The Chosen".


title: Hannah Murray

text: In 2017, Murray starred in Kathryn Bigelow's drama "Detroit", based on the Algiers Motel incident during Detroit's 1967 12th Street Riot. The film was critically acclaimed.


title: Hannah Murray

text: In 2018, she played the lead role of Leslie "Lulu" Van Houten, the American convicted murderer and former member of the Manson Family, in the film "Charlie Says" by Mary Harron. The movie premiered at the 75th Venice International Film Festival and was based on the books "The Family", by Ed Sanders, and "The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten," by Karlene Faith.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Agkistrodon piscivorus is a species of pit viper in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. It is one of the world's few semiaquatic vipers (along with the Florida cottonmouth), and is native to the southeastern United States. As an adult, it is large and capable of delivering a painful and potentially fatal bite. When threatened, it may respond by coiling its body and displaying its fangs. Individuals may bite when feeling threatened or being handled in any way. It tends to be found in or near water, particularly in slow-moving and shallow lakes, streams, and marshes. It is a capable swimmer and, like several species of snakes, is known to occasionally enter bays and estuaries and swim between barrier islands and the mainland.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: The generic name is derived from the Greek words "ankistron" "fish-hook, hook" and "odon" "tooth", and the specific name comes from the Latin "piscis" "fish" and "voro" "(I) eat greedily, devour"; thus, the scientific name translates to "hook-toothed fish-eater". Common names include variants on cottonmouth,Northern cottonmouth, water moccasin, swamp moccasin, black moccasin, and simply viper. Many of the common names refer to the threat display, in which this species will often stand its ground and gape at an intruder, exposing the white lining of its mouth. Many scientists dislike the use of the term water moccasin since it can lead to confusion between the venomous cottonmouth and non-venomous water snakes.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: "Agkistrodon piscivorus" is the largest species of the genus "Agkistrodon". Adults commonly exceed in total length (including tail); females are typically smaller than males. Total length, per one study of adults, was . Average body mass has been found to be in males and in females. Occasionally, individuals may exceed in total length, especially in the eastern part of the range.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Although larger ones have purportedly been seen in the wild, according to Gloyd and Conant (1990), the largest recorded specimen of "A. p. piscivorus" was in total length, based on a specimen caught in the Dismal Swamp region and given to the Philadelphia Zoological Garden. This snake had apparently been injured during capture, died several days later, and was measured when straight and relaxed. Large specimens can be extremely bulky, with the mass of a specimen of about in total length known to weigh .


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: The broad head is distinct from the neck, and the snout is blunt in profile with the rim of the top of the head extending forwards slightly further than the mouth. Substantial cranial plates are present, although the parietal plates are often fragmented, especially towards the rear. A loreal scale is absent. Six to 9 supralabials and eight to 12 infralabials are seen. At midbody, there are 23–27 rows of dorsal scales. All dorsal scale rows have keels, although those on the lowermost scale rows are weak. In males/females, the ventral scales number 130-145/128-144 and the subcaudals 38-54/36-50. Many of the latter may be divided.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Though the majority of specimens are almost or even totally black, (with the exception of the head and facial markings), the color pattern may consist of a brown, gray, tan, yellowish-olive, or blackish ground color, which is overlaid with a series of 10–17 dark brown to almost black crossbands. These crossbands, which usually have black edges, are sometimes broken along the dorsal midline to form a series of staggered halfbands on either side of the body. These crossbands are visibly lighter in the center, almost matching the ground color, often contain irregular dark markings, and extend well down onto the ventral scales. The dorsal banding pattern fades with age, so older individuals are an almost uniform olive-brown, grayish-brown, or black. The belly is white, yellowish-white, or tan, marked with dark spots, and becomes darker posteriorly. The amount of dark pigment on the belly varies from virtually none to almost completely black. The head is a more or less uniform brown color, especially in "A. p. piscivorus". Subadult specimens may exhibit the same kind of dark, parietal spots characteristic of "A. contortrix", but sometimes these are still visible in adults. Eastern populations have a broad, dark, postocular stripe, bordered with pale pigment above and below, that is faint or absent in western populations. The underside of the head is generally whitish, cream, or tan.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Juvenile and subadult specimens generally have a more contrasting color pattern, with dark crossbands on a lighter ground color. The ground color is then tan, brown, or reddish brown. The tip of the tail is usually yellowish, becoming greenish yellow or greenish in subadults, and then black in adults. On some juveniles, the banding pattern can also be seen on the tail. Young snakes wiggle the tips of their tails to lure prey animals.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: This species is often confused with the copperhead, "A. contortrix". This is especially true for juveniles, but differences exist. "A. piscivorus" has broad, dark stripes on the sides of its head that extend back from the eye, whereas "A. contortrix" has only a thin, dark line that divides the pale supralabials from the somewhat darker color of the head. The watersnakes of the genus "Nerodia" are also similar in appearance, being thick-bodied with large heads, but they have round pupils, no loreal pit, a single anal plate, subcaudal scales that are divided throughout, and a distinctive overall color pattern.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: This is a list of common names for "Agkistrodon piscivorus", some of which also refer to other species:


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: "A. piscivorus" is found in the eastern US from the Great Dismal Swamp in southeast Virginia, south through the Florida peninsula and west to Arkansas, eastern and southern Oklahoma, and western and southern Georgia (excluding Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona). A few records exist of the species being found along the Rio Grande in Texas, but these are thought to represent disjunct populations, now possibly eradicated. The type locality given is "Carolina", although Schmidt (1953) proposed this be restricted to the area around Charleston, South Carolina.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Campbell and Lamar (2004) mentioned this species as being found in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Maps provided by Campbell and Lamar (2004) and Wright and Wright (1957) also indicate its presence in Western and Middle Tennessee and extreme southeastern Kansas, and limit it to the western part of Kentucky.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: In Georgia, it is found in the southern half of the state up to a few kilometers north of the Fall Line with few exceptions. Its range also includes the Ohio River Valley as far north as southern Indiana, and it inhabits many barrier islands off the coasts of the states where it is found.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: The species "A. piscivorus" is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List (v3.1, 2007). Species are listed as such due to their wide distribution, presumed large population, or because they are unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. When last assessed in 2007, the population trend was stable.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Constant persecution of the species and drainage of wetland habitat prior to development has taken a heavy toll on local populations. Despite this, it remains a common species in many areas.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: "Agkistrodon piscivorus" is the most aquatic species of the genus "Agkistrodon", and is usually associated with bodies of water, such as creeks, streams, marshes, swamps, and the shores of ponds and lakes. The U.S. Navy (1991) describes it as inhabiting swamps, shallow lakes, and sluggish streams, but it is usually not found in swift, deep, cool water. Behler and King (1979) list its habitats as including lowland swamps, lakes, rivers, bayheads, sloughs, irrigation ditches, canals, rice fields, and small, clear, rocky, mountain streams.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: It is also found in brackish-water habitats and is sometimes seen swimming in salt water. It has been much more successful at colonizing Atlantic and Gulf coast barrier islands than the copperhead. However, even on these islands, it tends to favor freshwater marshes. A study by Dunson and Freda (1985) describes it as not being particularly salt-tolerant.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: The snake is not limited to aquatic habitats, however, as Gloyd and Conant (1990) mentioned large specimens have been found more than a mile (1.6 km) from water. In various locations, the species is well-adapted to less moist environments, such as palmetto thickets, pine-palmetto forest, pine woods in East Texas, pine flatwoods in Florida, eastern deciduous dune forest, dune and beach areas, riparian forest, and prairies.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: In tests designed to measure the various behavioral responses by wild specimens to encounters with people, 23 of 45 (51%) tried to escape, while 28 of 36 (78%) resorted to threat displays and other defensive tactics. Only when they were picked up with a mechanical hand were they likely to bite.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: When sufficiently stressed or threatened, this species engages in a characteristic threat display that includes vibrating its tail and throwing its head back with its mouth open to display the startlingly white interior, often making a loud hiss while the neck and front part of the body are pulled into an S-shaped position. Many of its common names, including "cottonmouth" and "gaper", refer to this behavior, while its habit of snapping its jaws shut when anything touches its mouth has earned it the name "trap jaw" in some areas. Other defensive responses can include flattening the body and emitting a strong, pungent secretion from the anal glands located at the base of the tail. This musk may be ejected in thin jets if the snake is sufficiently agitated or restrained. The smell has been likened to that of a billy goat, as well as to a genus of common flood-plain weeds, "Pluchea", that also have a penetrating odor.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Harmless watersnakes of the genus "Nerodia" are often mistaken for it. These are also semiaquatic, thick-bodied snakes with large heads that can be aggressive when provoked, but they behave differently. For example, watersnakes usually flee quickly into the water, while "A. piscivorus" often stands its ground with its threat display. In addition, watersnakes do not vibrate their tails when excited. "A. piscivorus" usually holds its head at an angle around 45° when swimming or crawling.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Brown (1973) considered their heavy muscular bodies to be a striking characteristic, stating this made it difficult to hold them for venom extraction owing to their strength.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: This species may be active during the day and at night. However, on bright, sunny days, they are usually found coiled or stretched out somewhere in the shade. In the morning and on cool days, they can often be seen basking in the sunlight. They often emerge at sunset to warm themselves on warm ground (i.e., sidewalks, roads) and then become very active throughout the night, when they are usually found swimming or crawling. Contrary to popular belief, they are capable of biting while under water.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: In the north, they hibernate during the winter. Niell (1947, 1948) made observations in Georgia, and noted they were one of the last species to seek shelter, often being found active until the first heavy frosts. At this point, they moved to higher ground and could be found in rotting pine stumps by tearing away the bark. These snakes could be quite active upon discovery and would then attempt to burrow more deeply into the soft wood or escape to the nearest water. In southeastern Virginia, Wood (1954) reported seeing migratory behavior in late October and early November. During a period of three or four days, as many as 50 individuals could be seen swimming across Back Bay from the bayside swamps of the barrier islands to the mainland. He suggested this might have something to do with hibernating habits. In the southern parts of its range, hibernation may be short or omitted altogether.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Raymond Ditmars (1912) described "A. piscivorus" as carnivorous. Its diet includes mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, eggs, insects, other snakes, small turtles, and small alligators. Cannibalism has also been reported. Normally, though, the bulk of its diet consists of fish and frogs. On occasion, juvenile specimens feed on invertebrates. Catfish (especially of the genus "Ictalurus") are often eaten, although the sharp spines sometimes cause injuries. Toads of the genus "Bufo" are apparently avoided. Common prey species include southern leopard frogs, bass, juvenile black rat snakes, young common snapping turtles, and North American least shrews.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Many authors have described the prey items taken under natural circumstances. Although fish and frogs are their most common prey, they eat almost any small vertebrate. Fish are captured by cornering them in shallow water, usually against the bank or under logs. They take advantage when bodies of water begin to dry up in the summer or early fall and gorge themselves on the resulting high concentrations of fish and tadpoles. They are surprisingly unsuccessful at seizing either live or dead fish under water.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: They are opportunistic feeders and sometimes eat carrion, making them one of the few snakes to do so. Campbell and Lamar (2004) described having seen them feeding on fish heads and viscera that had been thrown into the water from a dock. Heinrich and Studenroth (1996) reported an occasion in which an individual was seen feeding on the butchered remains of a feral hog ("Sus scrofa") that had been thrown into Cypress Creek. Northern Cottonmouths have an unusual feeding adaptation that allows them to adhere to prey through rotation of their head during swallowing because it aids the jaws in clearing the prey and contributes to the advance of the jaws along the prey.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Conant (1929) gave a detailed account of the feeding behavior of a captive specimen from South Carolina. When prey was introduced, the snake quickly became attentive and made an attack. Frogs and small birds were seized and held until movement stopped. Larger prey was approached in a more cautious manner; a rapid strike was executed after which the snake would withdraw. In 2.5 years, the snake had accepted three species of frogs, including a large bullfrog, a spotted salamander, water snakes, garter snakes, sparrows, young rats, and three species of mice. Brimley (1944) described a captive specimen that ate copperheads ("A. contortrix"), as well as members of its own species, keeping its fangs embedded in its victims until they had been immobilized. Another study done in 2018 found that northern cottonmouths on a diet of only fish when compared to a diet of mice had to eat 20% more to achieve the same growth.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Young individuals have yellowish or greenish tail tips and engage in caudal luring. The tail tip is wriggled to lure prey, such as frogs and lizards, within striking distance. Wharton (1960) observed captive specimens exhibiting this behavior between 07:20 and 19:40 hours, which suggests it is a daytime activity.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: In August 2022, an individual found in Florida was observed to have consumed an introduced Burmese python ("Python bivittatus"). Burmese pythons are an invasive species in Florida with the capacity to inflict great damage to the local ecosystem, so it is hoped that "A. piscivorus" may be in the process of modifying its diet to enable it to hunt the pythons.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: "Agkistrodon piscivorus" is preyed upon by snapping turtles ("Chelydra serpentina"), falcons, American alligators ("Alligator mississippiensis"), horned owls ("Bubo virginianus"), eagles, red-shouldered hawks ("Buteo lineatus"), loggerhead shrikes ("Lanius ludovicianus"), and large wading birds, such as herons, cranes, and egrets.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: It is also preyed upon by ophiophagous snakes, including their own species. Humphreys (1881) described how a specimen was killed and eaten by a captive kingsnake. On the other hand, Neill (1947) reported captive kingsnakes ("Lampropeltis getula") were loath to attack them, being successfully repelled with "body blows". Also called body-bridging, this is a specific defensive behavior against ophiophagous snakes, first observed in certain rattlesnake ("Crotalus") species by Klauber (1927), that involves raising a section of the middle of the body above the ground to varying heights. This raised loop may then be held in this position for varying amounts of time, shifted in position, or moved towards the attacker. In the latter case, it is often flipped or thrown vigorously in the direction of the assailant. In "A. piscivorus", the loop is raised laterally, with the belly facing towards the attacker.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: "Agkistrodon piscivorus" is ovoviviparous, with females usually giving birth to one to 16 live young and possibly as many as 20. Litters of six to eight are the most common. Neonates are 22–35 cm in length (excluding runts), with the largest belonging to "A. p. conanti" and "A. p. leucostoma" the smallest. If weather conditions are favorable and food is readily available, growth is rapid and females may reproduce at less than three years of age and a total length of as little as 60 cm. The young are born in August or September, while mating may occur during any of the warmer months of the year, at least in certain parts of its range.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Regarding "A. p. piscivorus", an early account by Stejneger (1895) described a pair in the Berlin Zoological Garden that mated on January 21, 1873, after which eight neonates were discovered in the cage on July 16 of that year. The young were each 26 cm in length and 1.5 cm thick. They shed for the first time within two weeks, after which they accepted small frogs, but not fish.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Combat behavior between males has been reported on a number of occasions, and is very similar in form to that seen in many other viperid species. An important factor in sexual selection, it allows for the establishment and recognition of dominance as males compete for access to sexually active females.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: A few accounts exist that describe females defending their newborn litters. Wharten (1960, 1966) reported several cases where females found near their young stood their ground and considered these to be examples of guarding behavior. Another case was described by Walters and Card (1996) in which a female was found at the entrance of a chamber with seven neonates crawling on or around her. When one of the young was moved a short distance from the chamber, she seemed to be agitated and faced the intruder. Eventually, all of her offspring retreated into the chamber, but the female remained at the entrance, ready to strike.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Parthenogenesis is a natural form of reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization. "A. piscivorus" can reproduce by facultative parthenogenesis, that is, they are capable of switching from a sexual mode of reproduction to an asexual mode. This likely involves recombination at the tips of the chromosomes, which leads to genome wide homozygosity. The result is the expression of deleterious recessive alleles and often to developmental failure (inbreeding depression). Both captive-born and wild-born "A. piscivorus" specimens appear to be capable of this form of parthenogenesis.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: "Agkistrodon piscivorus" venom is more toxic than that of "A. contortrix", and is rich with powerful cytotoxic venom that destroys tissue. Although deaths are rare, the bite can leave scars, and on occasion, require amputation. Absent an anaphylactic reaction in a bitten individual, however, the venom does not cause systemic reactions in victims and does not contain neurotoxic components present in numerous rattlesnake species. Bites can be effectively treated with CroFab antivenom; this serum is derived using venom components from four species of American pit vipers (the eastern and western diamondback rattlesnakes, the Mojave rattlesnake, and the cottonmouth).


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Bites from the cottonmouth are relatively frequent in the lower Mississippi River Valley and along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, although fatalities are rare. Allen and Swindell (1948) compiled a record of "A. piscivorus" bites in Florida from newspaper accounts and data from the Bureau of Vital Statistics: 1934, eight bites and three fatalities (no further fatalities were recorded after this year); 1935, 10; 1936, 16; 1937, 7; 1938, 6; 1939, 5; 1940, 3; 1941, 6; 1942, 3; 1943, 1; 1944, 3; 1998, 1. Wright and Wright (1957) report having encountered these snakes on countless occasions, often almost stepping on them, but never being bitten. In addition, they heard of no reports of any bites among 400 cypress cutters in the Okefenokee Swamp during the entire summer of 1921. These accounts suggest that the species is not particularly aggressive.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Brown (1973) gave an average venom yield (dried) of 125 mg, with a range of 80–237 mg, along with values of 4.0, 2.2, 2.7, 3.5, 2.0 mg/kg IV, 4.8, 5.1, 4.0, 5.5, 3.8, 6.8 mg/kg IP and 25.8 mg/kg SC for toxicity. Wolff and Githens (1939) described a specimen that yielded 3.5 ml of venom during the first extraction and 4.0 ml five weeks later (1.094 grams of dried venom). The human lethal dose is unknown, but has been estimated at 100–150 mg.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: Symptoms commonly include ecchymosis and swelling. The pain is generally more severe than bites from the copperhead, but less so than those from rattlesnakes ("Crotalus" spp.). The formation of vesicles and bullae is less common than with rattlesnake bites, although necrosis can occur. Myokymia is sometimes reported. However, the venom has strong proteolytic activity that can lead to severe tissue destruction.


title: Agkistrodon piscivorus

text: For many decades, one species with three subspecies were formally recognized: eastern cottonmouth, "A. p. piscivorus" (Lacépède, 1789); western cottonmouth, "A. p. leucostoma" (Troost, 1836); and Florida cottonmouth, "A. p. conanti" Gloyd, 1969. However, a molecular (DNA) based study was published in 2014, applying phylogenetic theories (one implication being no subspecies are recognized), changing the long-standing taxonomy. The resulting and current taxonomic arrangement recognizes two species and no subspecies. The western cottonmouth ("A. p. leucostoma") was synonymized with the eastern cottonmouth ("A. p. piscivorus") into one species (with the oldest published name, "A. p. piscivorus", having priority). The Florida cottonmouth ("A. p. conanti") is now recognized as a separate species.


title: Teak

text: Teak (Tectona grandis) is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. "Tectona grandis" has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicles) at the end of the branches. These flowers contain both types of reproductive organs (perfect flowers). The large, papery leaves of teak trees are often hairy on the lower surface. Teak wood has a leather-like smell when it is freshly milled and is particularly valued for its durability and water resistance. The wood is used for boat building, exterior construction, veneer, furniture, carving, turnings, and other small wood projects.


title: Teak

text: "Tectona grandis" is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka, but is naturalised and cultivated in many countries in Africa and the Caribbean. Myanmar's teak forests account for nearly half of the world's naturally occurring teak. Molecular studies show that there are two centres of genetic origin of teak: one in India and the other in Myanmar and Laos.


title: Teak

text: Teak is a large deciduous tree up to tall with grey to greyish-brown branches, known for its high quality wood. Its leaves are ovate-elliptic to ovate, long by wide, and are held on robust petioles which are long. Leaf margins are entire.


title: Teak

text: Fragrant white flowers are borne on long by wide panicles from June to August. The corolla tube is 2.5–3 mm long with 2 mm wide obtuse lobes. "Tectona grandis" sets fruit from September to December; fruits are globose and 1.2–1.8 cm in diameter. Flowers are weakly protandrous in that the anthers precede the stigma in maturity and pollen is shed within a few hours of the flower opening. The flowers are primarily entomophilous (insect pollinated), but can occasionally be anemophilous (wind pollinated). A 1996 study found that in its native range in Thailand, the major pollinator were species in the bee genus "Ceratina".


title: Teak

text: "Tectona grandis" was first formally described by Carl Linnaeus the Younger in his 1782 work "Supplementum Plantarum". In 1975, Harold Norman Moldenke published new descriptions of four forms of this species in the journal "Phytologia". Moldenke described each form as varying slightly from the type specimen: "T. grandis" f. "canescens" is distinguished from the type material by being densely canescent, or covered in hairs, on the underside of the leaf, "T. grandis" f. "pilosula" is distinct from the type material in the varying morphology of the leaf veins, "T. grandis" f. "punctata" is only hairy on the larger veins on the underside of the leaf, and "T. grandis" f. "tomentella" is noted for its dense yellowish tomentose hairs on the lower surface of the leaf.


title: Teak

text: The English word "teak" comes via the Portuguese from Malayalam (cognate with Tamil , Telugu , and Kannada ) via Sanskrit ""shaka"" and ""saka"". Central Province teak and Nagpur teak are named for those regions of India.


title: Teak

text: "Tectona grandis" is one of three species in the genus "Tectona". The other two species, "T. hamiltoniana" and "T. philippinensis", are endemics with relatively small native distributions in Myanmar and the Philippines, respectively. "Tectona grandis" is native to India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Myanmar, northern Thailand, and northwestern Laos.


title: Teak

text: "Tectona grandis" is found in a variety of habitats and climatic conditions from arid areas with only 500 mm of rain per year to very moist forests with up to 5,000 mm of rain per year. Typically, though, the annual rainfall in areas where teak grows averages 1,250–1,650 mm with a 3–5 month dry season.


title: Teak

text: Teak's natural oils make it useful in exposed locations, and make the timber termite- and pest-resistant. Teak is durable even when not treated with oil or varnish. Timber cut from old teak trees was once believed to be more durable and harder than plantation-grown teak. Studies have shown that plantation teak performs on par with old-growth teak in erosion rate, dimensional stability, warping, and surface checking, but is more susceptible to colour change from UV exposure.


title: Teak

text: The vast majority of commercially harvested teak is grown on teak plantations found in Indonesia and controlled by Perum Perhutani (a state owned forest enterprise) that manages the country's forests. The primary use of teak harvested in Indonesia is in the production of outdoor teak furniture for export. Nilambur in Kerala, India, is also a major producer of teak, and is home to the world's oldest teak plantation.


title: Teak

text: Teak consumption raises a number of environmental concerns, such as the disappearance of rare old-growth teak. However, its popularity has led to growth in sustainable plantation teak production throughout the seasonally dry tropics in forestry plantations. The Forest Stewardship Council offers certification of sustainably grown and harvested teak products. Propagation of teak via tissue culture for plantation purposes is commercially viable.


title: Teak

text: Teak plantations were widely established in Equatorial Africa during the Colonial era. These timber resources, as well as the oil reserves, are at the heart of the current (2014) South Sudanese conflict.


title: Teak

text: Much of the world's teak is exported by Indonesia and Myanmar. There is also a rapidly growing plantation grown market in Central America (Costa Rica) and South America. With a depletion of remaining natural hectares of teak forests, a growth in plantations in Latin America is expected to rise.


title: Teak

text: "Hyblaea puera", commonly known as the teak defoliator, is a moth native to southeast Asia. It is a teak pest whose caterpillar feeds on teak and other species of trees common in the region of southeast Asia.


title: Teak

text: Teak's high oil content, high tensile strength and tight grain make it particularly suitable where weather resistance is desired. It is used in the manufacture of outdoor furniture and boat decks. It is also used for cutting boards, indoor flooring, countertops and as a veneer for indoor finishings. Although easily worked, it can cause severe blunting on edged tools because of the presence of silica in the wood. Over time teak can weather to a silvery-grey finish, especially when exposed to sunlight.


title: Teak

text: Teak is used extensively in India to make doors and window frames, furniture, and columns and beams in homes. It is resistant to termite attacks and damage caused by other insects. Mature teak fetches a very good price. It is grown extensively by forest departments of different states in forest areas.


title: Teak

text: Leaves of the teak wood tree are used in making Pellakai gatti (jackfruit dumpling), where batter is poured into a teak leaf and is steamed. This type of usage is found in the coastal district of Udupi in the Tulunadu region in South India. The leaves are also used in gudeg, a dish of young jackfruit made in Central Java, Indonesia, and give the dish its dark brown colour.


title: Teak

text: Teak is used as a food plant by the larvae of moths of the genus "Endoclita" including "E. aroura", "E. chalybeatus", "E. damor", "E. gmelina", "E. malabaricus", "E. sericeus" and "E. signifer" and other Lepidoptera including the turnip moth.


title: Teak

text: Teak has been used as a boat-building material for over 2000 years (it was found in an archaeological dig in Berenice Panchrysos, a port on the Indian Roman trade route). In addition to relatively high strength, teak is also highly resistant to rot, fungi and mildew. The wood has a relatively low shrinkage ratio, which makes it excellent for applications where it undergoes periodic changes in moisture. Teak has the unusual property of being both an excellent structural timber for framing or planking, while at the same time being easily worked and finished, unlike some otherwise similar woods such as purpleheart. For this reason, it is also prized for the trim work on boat interiors. Due to the oily nature of the wood, care must be taken to properly prepare the wood before gluing.


title: Teak

text: When used on boats, teak is also very flexible in the finishes that may be applied. One option is to use no finish at all, in which case the wood will naturally weather to a pleasing silver grey. The wood may also be oiled with a finishing agent such as linseed or tung oil. This results in a pleasant, somewhat dull finish. Finally, teak may also be varnished for a deep, lustrous glow.


title: Teak

text: Teak is also used extensively in boat decks, as it is extremely durable and requires very little maintenance. The teak tends to wear in to the softer 'summer' growth bands first, forming a natural 'non-slip' surface. Any sanding is therefore only damaging. Use of modern cleaning compounds, oils or preservatives will shorten the life of the teak, as it contains natural teak oil a very small distance below the white surface. Wooden boat experts will only wash the teak with salt water, and re-caulk when needed. This cleans the deck, and prevents it from drying out and the wood shrinking. The salt helps it absorb and retain moisture, and prevents any mildew and algal growth. Over-maintenance, such as cleaning teak with harsh chemicals, can shorten its usable lifespan as decking.


title: Teak

text: Teak is propagated mainly from seeds. Germination of the seeds involves pretreatment to remove dormancy arising from the thick pericarp. Pretreatment involves alternate wetting and drying of the seed. The seeds are soaked in water for 12 hours and then spread to dry in the sun for 12 hours. This is repeated for 10–14 days and then the seeds are sown in shallow germination beds of coarse peat covered by sand. The seeds then germinate after 15 to 30 days.


title: Teak

text: Clonal propagation of teak has been successfully done through grafting, rooted stem cuttings and micro propagation. While bud grafting on to seedling root stock has been the method used for establishing clonal seed orchards that enables assemblage of clones of the superior trees to encourage crossing, rooted stem cuttings and micro propagated plants are being increasingly used around the world for raising clonal plantations.


title: Teak

text: Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (Myanmar) found the world's two biggest living teak trees on 28 August 2017 in Homalin Township, Sagaing Region, Myanmar. The biggest one, named Homemalynn 1, is in girth and tall. The second biggest one, named Homemalynn 2, is in girth.


title: Teak

text: Previously, the world's biggest recorded teak tree was located within the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary in the Palakkad District of Kerala in India, named Kannimara. The tree is approximately tall. Its age is between 450–500 years and is considered one of the oldest teak trees in the world.


title: Teak

text: In 2017, a tree was discovered in the Ottakallan area of the Thundathil range of the Malayattoor Forest Division in Kerala with a girth of and height of . A teak tree in Kappayam, Edamalayar, Kerala, which used to be considered the biggest, has a girth of only 7.23 meters.


title: Teak

text: Tree No 23 is the oldest planted teak on earth. It is located in Conolly's plot (the world’s oldest teak plantation), Nilambur, Kerala.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: St. Elsewhere was an American medical drama television series created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey, that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. The series stars Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd, and William Daniels as teaching doctors at an aging, rundown Boston hospital who give interns a promising future in making critical medical and life decisions. The series was produced by MTM Enterprises, which had success with a similar NBC series, the police drama "Hill Street Blues", during that same time. The series were often compared to each other for their use of ensemble casts and overlapping serialized storylines (an original ad for "St. Elsewhere" quoted a critic that called the series ""Hill Street Blues" in a hospital").


title: St. Elsewhere

text: Recognized for its gritty, realistic drama, "St. Elsewhere" gained a small yet loyal following (the series never ranked higher than 47th place in the yearly Nielsen ratings) over its six-season, 137-episode run; however, the series also found a strong audience in Nielsen's 18–49 age demographic, a young demo later known for a young, affluent audience that TV advertisers were eager to reach. The series also earned critical acclaim during its run, earning 13 Emmy Awards for its writing, acting, and directing. "St. Elsewhere" was ranked No. 20 on "TV Guide's" 2002 list of "The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time", with the magazine also selecting it as the best drama series of the 1980s in a 1993 issue. In 2013, "TV Guide" ranked the series No. 51 on its list of the "60 Best Series of All Time".


title: St. Elsewhere

text: "St. Elsewhere" was set at the fictional St. Eligius Hospital, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood. (The South End's Franklin Square House Apartments, formerly known as the St. James Hotel and located next to Franklin and Blackstone Squares, stood in for the hospital in establishing shots, including the series' opening sequence.) The hospital's nickname, "St. Elsewhere", is a slang term used in the medical field to refer to lesser-equipped hospitals that serve patients turned away by more prestigious institutions; it is also used in medical academia to refer to teaching hospitals in general.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: In the pilot episode, surgeon Dr. Mark Craig (William Daniels) informs his colleagues that the local Boston media had bestowed the derogatory nickname upon St. Eligius since they perceived the hospital as "a dumping ground, a place you wouldn't want to send your mother-in-law." In fact, the hospital was so poorly regarded that its shrine to Saint Eligius was commonly defiled by the hospital's visitors "and" staff. However, despite the hospital's reputation, they employed some first-rate doctors -- including Craig, a world-class heart surgeon. As well, their administrative staff was shown to care deeply about the hospital's mission, even as they dealt with a lack of up-to-date equipment, funding, and experienced personnel.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: Just as in "Hill Street Blues", "St. Elsewhere" employed a large ensemble cast; a gritty, "realistic" visual style; and a multitude of interlocking serialized stories, many of which continued over the course of multiple episodes or seasons. In the same way "Hill Street" was regarded as a groundbreaking police drama, "St. Elsewhere" also broke new ground in medical dramas, creating a template that influenced "ER", "Chicago Hope", and other later shows in the genre. "St. Elsewhere" portrayed the medical profession as an admirable but less-than-perfect endeavor; the St. Eligius staff, while mostly having good intentions in serving their patients, all had their own personal and professional problems, with the two often intertwining. The staff's problems, and those of their patients (some of whom did not survive), were often contemporary in nature, with storylines involving breast cancer, AIDS, and addiction. Though the series dealt with serious issues of life, death, the medical profession, and the human effects of all three, a substantial number of comedic moments, inside jokes, and references to television history were included, as well as tender moments of humanity.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: The producers for the series were Bruce Paltrow, Mark Tinker, John Masius, Tom Fontana, John Falsey and Abby Singer. Tinker, Masius, Fontana, and Paltrow wrote a number of episodes as well; other writers included John Tinker, John Ford Noonan, Charles H. Eglee, Eric Overmyer, Channing Gibson, and Aram Saroyan.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: The show's main and end title theme was composed by famed jazz musician and composer Dave Grusin. Noted film and TV composer J. A. C. Redford wrote the music for the series (except for the pilot, which was scored by Grusin). No soundtrack was ever released, but the theme was released in two different versions: the original TV mix and edit appeared on TVT Records' compilation "Television's Greatest Hits, Vol. 3: 70s & 80s", and Grusin recorded a full-length version for inclusion on his "Night Lines" album, released in 1983.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: Along with established actors Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd and William Daniels, "St. Elsewhere's" ensemble cast included David Morse, Alfre Woodard, Bruce Greenwood, Christina Pickles, Kyle Secor, Ed Begley Jr., Stephen Furst, Howie Mandel, Mark Harmon, Denzel Washington and Helen Hunt. Notable guest stars include Tim Robbins, whose first major role was in the series' first three episodes as domestic terrorist Andrew Reinhardt, and Doris Roberts and James Coco, who both earned Emmy Awards for their season-one appearance as, respectively, a bag lady and her mentally challenged husband.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: "St. Elsewhere" ran for six seasons and 137 episodes; the first season (1982–83) aired Tuesdays at 10 p.m. (ET), with remaining seasons airing Wednesdays at 10 p.m.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: "St. Elsewhere" was noteworthy for featuring episodes with unusual aspects or significant changes to the series' status quo. Some of those episodes included:


title: St. Elsewhere

text: Dr. Morrison learns of the death of his wife, Nina (with whom he had an argument midway through the previous episode, which was the last time he saw her alive), after slipping and hitting her head. Nina's heart is donated to a heart transplant patient—a patient of Dr. Craig. The poignant final scene of the episode finds Morrison entering the patient's room and, with a stethoscope, hearing the patient's new heart—Nina's heart—steadily beating.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: "St. Elsewhere" ended its 3rd season with this TV crossover that found Drs. Westphall, Auschlander, and Craig getting together at that other Boston TV institution, the namesake setting of the comedy series "Cheers". The scene, which was filmed on the main "Cheers" soundstage (Stage 25 at the Paramount Studios lot) and not entirely done for laughs, finds the bar's hypochondriac know-it-all Cliff Clavin, trying and failing to gain free medical advice from the doctors; Auschlander confronting his former accountant, Norm Peterson; and barmaid Carla Tortelli voicing her displeasure with the doctors regarding her stay in St. Eligius two years earlier for the birth of her baby. The scene ends with Westphall announcing to his two colleagues that he has decided to leave St. Eligius and medicine, a short-lived departure, as he returned in the Season 4 premiere.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: The merger of "Cheers"' and "St. Elsewhere's" universes created a discontinuity with the second season finale, "Hello, Goodbye", in which Dr. Morrison and his young son spend a day on the town and visit the real-world Bull and Finch Pub, the banners out front celebrating it as the inspiration for (and exterior view of) "Cheers".


title: St. Elsewhere

text: In "E.R.", an episode at the end of season 4, a patient mentions an assault by a waitress who is likely Carla Tortelli.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: This two-part episode featured storylines that fleshed out the 50-year history of St. Eligius, each sequence taped in a different style (i.e. black-and-white for the 1930s setting, muted colors for the 1940s). The storylines included the hospital's 1936 founding by Fr. Joseph McCabe (played by Edward Herrmann), the arrivals of Dr. Auschlander and Nurse Rosenthal, the early struggles of Mark Craig and his relationship with his mentor (which mirrored Craig's later mentoring of Dr. Ehrlich), the death of Dr. Westphall's wife, and Dr. Morrison simultaneously dealing with an overdose patient, a knee injury, and the disappearance of his son. "TV Guide" ranked "Time Heals" No. 44 on its 1997 list of "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time", calling the episode "a masterwork of dramatic writing."


title: St. Elsewhere

text: This episode deals with the shooting of Dr. Wayne Fiscus, who is critically wounded after being shot by the vengeful wife of a patient he is treating in the ER. As the staff frantically try to save him, Fiscus ventures back-and-forth between Hell (where he meets former colleague, and rapist, Peter White); Purgatory; and Heaven, where he has a conversation with God, who presents Himself as a spitting image of Fiscus. Just as Fiscus shakes hands with Lou Gehrig, his colleagues successfully revive him back to Earth.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: In the season-five finale, all attempts to save St. Eligius from closing seem to have failed. As demolition begins, a frail Dr. Auschlander, accidentally left in the hospital after a relapse, attempts to escape.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: St. Eligius is saved (and any damage from the above-mentioned "Wrecker's Ball" repaired), but it falls under the new ownership of Ecumena Corporation, a national managed health care concern. (The use of "Ecumena" garnered some real-life controversy, as Humana thought the use of that name sounded too much like its own; the trademark-infringement lawsuit that ensued prompted NBC to begin airing post-episode disclaimers stating that Ecumena was indeed fictional, and to change the corporate name mid-season to "Weigert.") Ecumena's choice to head St. Eligius, Dr. John Gideon, mixed like oil and water with the St. Eligius staff, especially Dr. Westphall, who, in the final scene of this episode (and Ed Flanders's last moment as a "St. Elsewhere" series regular), delivers his resignation "in terms you can understand"—by dropping his pants and exposing his bare buttocks to Gideon ("You can kiss my ass, pal"). This scene, which would normally be considered controversial, was preserved by NBC's censors as they did not consider Westphall's display to be erotic in nature.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: In a somewhat change-of-pace episode, Drs. Craig and Novino, Ellen Craig, and Lizzie Westphall visit Donald and Tommy Westphall (Lizzie's father and brother, respectively), who appear to be enjoying the quiet life in small town New Hampshire. The episode features Dr. Westphall occasionally breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the viewer, a la the "Stage Manager" character in "Our Town" (the episode title and its location are nods to the Thornton Wilder play).


title: St. Elsewhere

text: "St. Elsewhere"s series finale features momentous changes for several main characters, including the departures of Drs. Fiscus and Morrison and the death of Dr. Auschlander, as well as the return of Dr. Westphall to an active leadership role at St. Eligius after Weigert agrees to sell the hospital back to the Boston archdiocese, as Dr. Gideon is set to move on to another hospital in San Jose, California.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: The finale is more known for its provocative final scene: Westphall and his son Tommy Westphall (played by Chad Allen), who has autism, are seen in Dr. Auschlander's office watching snow falling outside. The image cuts to an exterior shot of the hospital, shaking. At that moment, Tommy and Daniel Auschlander are seen in an apartment building, with Tommy sitting on the floor playing with a snow globe. A much younger-looking Donald arrives home from a day of work, and it is clear from the uniform he wears and the dialog in this scene that he works in construction. "Auschlander" is revealed to be Donald's father, and thus Tommy's grandfather. Donald laments to his father, "I don't understand this autism thing, Pop. Here's my son. I talk to him. I don't even know if he can hear me, because he sits there, all day long, in his own world, staring at that toy. What's he thinking about?" As Tommy shakes the snow globe, he is told by his father to come and wash his hands for dinner. Donald places the snow globe on the family's television set and walks into the kitchen with Tommy and Auschlander; as they leave the room, the camera closes in on the snow globe—which holds a replica of St. Eligius.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: The most common interpretation of this scene is that the entire series of events in the series "St. Elsewhere" had been a product of Tommy Westphall's imagination, with elements of the above scene used as its own evidence. Author Cynthia Burkhead explains that with this final shot, "St. Elsewhere managed to take the idea of a dream and alter it just enough, putting it in the imagination of an autistic boy", and surmises that an ending constructed in this manner "reminds viewers that the fiction they have watched for six years is actually fiction within a fiction, occupying a second level of unreality, one level beyond the space of illusion filled by all narrative television." A notable result of this ending has been the attempt by individuals to determine how many television shows are also products of Tommy Westphall's mind owing to its shared fictional characters (the "Tommy Westphall Universe").


title: St. Elsewhere

text: "The Last One"'s closing credits differ from those of the rest of the series. In all other episodes, the credits appear over a still image of an ongoing surgical operation, followed by the traditional MTM Productions black-backgrounded logo, featuring Mimsie the Cat in a cartoon surgical cap and mask; here, the credits appear on a black background, flanked by an electrocardiogram and an IV bag, with Mimsie lying on her side at the top of the screen; at the end of the credits, the heart monitor flatlines, marking Mimsie's death and the end of "St. Elsewhere". Coincidentally, Mimsie the Cat died in real life shortly after the airing of "The Last One" at the age of 20.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: "The Last One" brought in 22.5 million viewers, ranking 7th out of 68 programs that week and attracting a 17.0/29 rating/share, and ranking as the most watched episode of the series. In 2011, the finale was ranked No. 12 on the TV Guide Network special "TV's Most Unforgettable Finales".


title: St. Elsewhere

text: "St. Elsewhere" was known for the insertion of several allusions both large and small to classic movies, pop culture, and television events (the latter especially) throughout its run, including other shows that were produced by MTM Enterprises. Some of the more noteworthy allusions have included:


title: St. Elsewhere

text: "St. Elsewhere" was also host to one crossover, served as the source material for two others, and has been paid homage to in several ways:


title: St. Elsewhere

text: "St. Elsewhere" won 24 out of 106 award nominations. The series garnered 62 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning 13 of them. Out the thirteen wins, Ed Flanders won once and William Daniels won twice for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series; Bonnie Bartlett and Doris Roberts each won for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series; James Coco won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series; John Masius and Tom Fontana won two awards for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series and Mark Tinker won for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. It received five Golden Globe Award nominations, with four of them for Best Television Series – Drama. "St. Elsewhere" received seven TCA Award nominations, winning once for Outstanding Achievement in Drama. The series also won three out of four Q Awards. Additional accolades include a Peabody Award and People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Dramatic Program.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: In May 2003, Walden Media announced a partnership with Roth Films to create a film adaptation of the television series. It was never made.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: After its initial run, reruns of "St. Elsewhere" aired for a time in syndication, with later runs on Nick at Nite, TV Land, Bravo and AmericanLife TV Network.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: Also a popular series in the United Kingdom, "St. Elsewhere" has been aired twice by two separate British broadcasters. Channel 4 aired the series between 1983 and 1989, with Sky One later airing repeats in a daily Midday timeslot during 1992–93. In 2009, Channel 4 began showing the series again, usually at around 03:30 AM, and have repeated the entire series several times since then. All 137 episodes are also available to view online at 4OD.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: Nick at Nite first added "St. Elsewhere" to its regular lineup on April 29, 1996, as part of an all-night sneak peek of sister network TV Land. After the sneak peek, Nick at Nite aired "St. Elsewhere" regularly from May 4 until July 6, 1996, every Saturday night as part of a short-lived programming block called "Nick at Nite's TV Land Sampler." "St. Elsewhere" was one of many rotating shows airing Saturday nights as part of "Nick at Nite's TV Land Sampler", which included (among other shows) "Petticoat Junction", "That Girl" and "The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour" along with past Nick at Nite Classics "Mister Ed" and "Green Acres". Nick at Nite aired reruns of "St. Elsewhere" once again from June 30 until July 4, 1997, as part of the week-long event "The 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time".


title: St. Elsewhere

text: On November 28, 2006, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the complete first season of "St. Elsewhere" on DVD in Region 1.


title: St. Elsewhere

text: In Region 2, Channel 4 DVD released the first season on DVD in the UK on April 2, 2007. All episodes have been made available on Channel 4's UK on-demand internet stream 4OD (4 On-Demand) in the UK and Ireland, though these episodes are edited versions for syndication and not as they were originally aired.


title: Lomon

text: Park Solomon (; born November 11, 1999), also known by his stage name Lomon (), is an Uzbek-born South Korean actor. Having debuted in 2014, he is best known for his leading roles in "Sweet Revenge" (2017) and "All of Us Are Dead" (2022).


title: Lomon

text: Lomon was born on November 11, 1999, in Uzbekistan, to parents of Koryo-saram descent. As a child, he and his family lived in Russia and later moved to South Korea. Finishing his elementary in South Korea, Park completed his secondary studies at Apgujeong High School, located in Gangnam District, Seoul.


title: Lomon

text: In an interview, he explained the meaning of his name: "I don't have a religion. I heard that my father built it with the intention that he wanted me to live wisely while reading the Bible at that time. I am working hard with the given name. I will live wisely."


title: Lomon

text: Lomon made his debut in 2014 with two drama series, "Bride of the Century" and "4 Legendary Witches." After appearing in several other roles in the following years, he gained initial heightened attention with his lead role in "Sweet Revenge" in 2017.


title: Lomon

text: He made his return to the small screen after two years when he starred as Lee Su-hyeok in the Netflix zombie-themed series "All of Us Are Dead" in 2022. Following the international success of the series, Lomon gained a huge following of 2 million followers on Instagram in less than a week. In the same year, Park was reportedly cast as the lead male character in the Disney+ series "Third Person Revenge" opposite Shin Ye-eun. It will be broadcast in November.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: Michael Dale Huckabee (born August 24, 1955) is an American politician, Baptist minister, political commentator, and bassist who served as the 44th governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomination in both 2008 and 2016.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: He is the host of the talk show "Huckabee", which ran on the Fox News Channel from 2008 to 2015, and has run on TBN since October 2017. He paused the show in January 2015 in order to explore a potential bid for the presidency. From April 2012 through December 2013, he hosted a daily radio program, "The Mike Huckabee Show", on weekday afternoons for Cumulus Media Networks. Huckabee is the author of several best-selling books, co-founder of the Kids Guide to Fighting Socialism, an ordained Southern Baptist minister noted for his evangelical views, a musician, and a public speaker. He was also a political commentator on "The Huckabee Report."


title: Mike Huckabee

text: In the 2008 Republican presidential primaries, Huckabee won the 2008 Iowa Republican caucuses and finished second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won, behind John McCain and Mitt Romney. Huckabee ran again for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election, but withdrew early in the primary following a disappointing finish in the Iowa caucus.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: Huckabee is the father of former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is the governor-elect of Arkansas.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: Huckabee was born on August 24, 1955, in Hope, Arkansas, the son of Dorsey Wiles Huckabee (1923–1996) and his wife Mae (Elder) Huckabee (1925–1999), conservative Southern Democrats. Huckabee is of English, German, and Scots-Irish ancestry, with roots in America dating to the Colonial Era. He has cited his working-class upbringing as the reason for his political views; his father worked as a fireman and mechanic, and his mother worked as a clerk at a gas company.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: His first job, when he was 14, was at a radio station, where he read the news and weather. He was elected governor of Arkansas by his chapter of the American Legion-sponsored Boys State program in 1972. He was student council vice president at Hope High School during the 1971–72 school year. He was student council president at Hope High School during the 1972–73 school year. He has one sister, Pat Harris, a middle school teacher. He entered the ministry in 1972 at Garrett Memorial Baptist Church in Hope.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: Huckabee married Janet McCain on May 25, 1974. He graduated from Ouachita Baptist University on May 8, 1978, completing his bachelor's degree in religion before attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He dropped out of the seminary after one year in order to take a job in Christian broadcasting.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: At age 21, Huckabee was a staffer for televangelist James Robison. Robison commented, "His convictions shape his character and his character will shape his policies. His whole life has been shaped by moral absolutes." Prior to his political career, he served as pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, from 1980 to 1986, and the Beech Street First Baptist Church in Texarkana, from 1986 to 1992.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: Huckabee started 24-hour television stations in both Pine Bluff and Texarkana, where he produced documentaries and hosted a program called "Positive Alternatives". He encouraged the all-white Immanuel Baptist Church to accept black members in the mid-1980s. Years later, he wrote about the insights he gained as a minister:


title: Mike Huckabee

text: In 1989, Huckabee ran against Ronnie Floyd of Springdale for the presidency of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. Huckabee won and served as president from 1989 to 1991.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: Huckabee has received two honorary doctorates: a Doctor of Humane Letters, received from John Brown University in 1991, and a Doctor of Laws from Ouachita Baptist University in 1992.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: In Huckabee's first political race in 1992, he lost to incumbent Democratic senator Dale Bumpers, receiving 40 percent of the vote in the general election. In the same election, Arkansas governor Bill Clinton was elected president, making lieutenant governor Jim Guy Tucker the new governor when Clinton resigned the governorship. In 1993, Republican state chairman Asa Hutchinson urged Huckabee to run in the special election for lieutenant governor held on July 27. Realizing his loss came among key conservative Democrats, Huckabee ran a decidedly conservative campaign. In the subsequent general election, he defeated Nate Coulter, who had been Bumpers's campaign manager the previous year, 51–49 percent. Huckabee became the second Republican since Reconstruction to serve as Arkansas lieutenant governor, the first having been Maurice Britt from 1967 to 1971.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: In his autobiography "From Hope to Higher Ground", Huckabee recalled the chilly reception that he received from the Arkansas Democratic establishment on his election as lieutenant governor: "The doors to my office were spitefully nailed shut from the inside, office furniture and equipment were removed, and the budget spent down to almost nothing prior to our arriving. After fifty-nine days of public outcry, the doors were finally opened for me to occupy the actual office I had been elected to hold two months earlier."


title: Mike Huckabee

text: Dick Morris, who had previously worked for Bill Clinton, advised Huckabee on his races in 1993, 1994, and 1998. Huckabee commented that Morris was a "personal friend". A newspaper article reported on Huckabee's 1993 win: "Morris said the mistake Republicans always make is that they are too much of a country club set. What we wanted to do was run a progressive campaign that would appeal to all Arkansans.'"


title: Mike Huckabee

text: Morris elaborated, "So we opened the campaign with ads that characterized Mike as more of a moderate whose values were the same as those of other Arkansans." Consequently, he abandoned his earlier support for the Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC) when in April 1994 following an adverse media campaign against the CofCC, Huckabee withdrew from a speaking engagement before their national convention. He repeated the accusations made by various media and civil rights organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center recalling his past association with the CofCC saying, "I will not participate in any program that has racist overtones. I've spent a lifetime fighting [against] racism and anti-Semitism."


title: Mike Huckabee

text: In 1994, Huckabee was re-elected to a full term as lieutenant governor, beating Democratic candidate Charlie Cole Chaffin with nearly 59 percent of the vote. While lieutenant governor, Huckabee accepted $71,500 in speaking fees and traveling expenses from a nonprofit group, Action America. R. J. Reynolds was the group's largest contributor.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: In October 1995, David Pryor announced that he was retiring from the United States Senate. Huckabee then announced he was running for the open seat and moved ahead in the polls, but ultimately dropped out of the race to lead the state after incumbent governor Jim Guy Tucker resigned following his fraud and conspiracy convictions.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: During his campaign, Huckabee opposed in December then-governor Tucker's plan for a constitutional convention. The plan was defeated by voters, 80–20 percent, in a special election. In January 1996, Huckabee campaigned in televised ads paid for by the Republican National Committee and the Arkansas Republican Party against a highway referendum. Tucker supported the referendum, which included tax increases and a bond program, to improve of highway. On the referendum, the bond question, which included a sales tax increase and a gas tax increase, lost 87–13 percent. A second question, a five-cent increase on diesel tax, lost 86–14 percent. Huckabee also opposed Tucker's plan for school consolidation.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: In May 1996, Tucker was convicted "on one count of arranging nearly $3 million in fraudulent loans" as part of the Whitewater controversy. The Arkansas Constitution, like nearly all state constitutions in the United States, does not allow convicted felons to hold office. Tucker thus promised to resign by July 15. Huckabee then announced he would quit the Senate race and instead fill the unexpired term of Tucker. However, Tucker, insisting he had a strong case for appeal, rescinded his resignation as Huckabee was preparing to be sworn in on July 15. Within a few hours, Tucker reinstated his resignation after Huckabee and the legislature threatened to initiate impeachment proceedings against Tucker. Huckabee was then duly sworn in as governor.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: In November 1998, Huckabee was elected to a full four-year term by defeating retired colonel Gene McVay in the primary and Jonesboro attorney Bill Bristow in the general election, becoming the state's third elected Republican governor since Reconstruction.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: According to a CNN exit poll, Huckabee received 48% of the African American vote in his 1998 election; but some experts have questioned whether those numbers are a representative sample on how he did on the whole in the election.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: In 2001, Huckabee was named "Friend of a Taxpayer" by Americans for Tax Reform for his cut in statewide spending.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: In November 2002, Huckabee was reelected to his second four-year term by defeating State Treasurer Jimmie Lou Fisher, garnering 53 percent of the vote. His reelection came despite the defeat in the general election of fellow Republican U.S. Senator Tim Hutchinson.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: Huckabee received widespread praise for his state's rapid response to Hurricane Katrina. In 2005, "Time" named him one of the five best governors in the U.S., writing "Huckabee has approached his state's troubles with energy and innovation" and referred to him as "a mature, consensus-building conservative who earns praise from fellow Evangelicals and, occasionally, liberal Democrats." "Governing" magazine likewise honored Huckabee as one of its 2005 Public Officials of the Year.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: In 2005, Huckabee was named one of "Time"s top 5 governors, honored as one of "Governing" magazine's Public Officials of the Year, and given the American Public Health Association's Distinguished Public Health Legislator of the Year Award.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: In December 2008, Huckabee became an honorary member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He said that did not have time to join a fraternity in college because he had to "cram four years into a little more than two". The fraternity's CEO said they were "very impressed with his character and the initiatives he headed" as governor.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: By the end of his term, Huckabee held the third-longest tenure of any Arkansas governor. Only Democrats Orval Faubus, who served six consecutive two-year terms (1955–1967), and Bill Clinton, who served 11 years, 11 months (1979–1981; 1983–1992), had longer tenures.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: During his time as a governor Huckabee supported a net tax increase of $505 million. According to columnist Margaret Carlson, that money was used to improve roads, health care and schools in the state.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: As governor, Huckabee commuted and accepted recommendations for pardon for twice as many sentences as his three predecessors combined; in total: 1,033 prisoners. Twelve had previously been convicted of murder. Though Huckabee pardoned more than his predecessors, the state prison size and number of people executed were greater as well, and Huckabee denied 92% of all clemency requests during his 10.5 years as governor. Most pardons and commutations were not for prisoners but those whose sentences had ended and were seeking work. Huckabee's pardons and commutations became an issue during the 2008 Republican Primary, with most of the controversy focusing on Wayne Dumond.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: Huckabee's handling of clemency petitions received national attention in November 2009 with the case of Maurice Clemmons, who had committed burglary without a weapon at age 16. The Prison Transfer Board unanimously requested a sentence commutation for Clemmons as did the trial judge. Clemmons's 60-year sentence was commuted by Huckabee to 47 years, making him eligible for parole if approved by the parole board. After parole in 2000, Clemmons was arrested for multiple offenses including child molestation and aggravated assault but was released after prosecutors declined to file charges. After Clemmons murdered four police officers in Lakewood, Washington, a two-day manhunt ensued, and Clemmons was shot and killed by a Seattle Police Department officer after refusing police orders to stop charging the officer. In his book about the shooting, "The Other Side of Mercy", Jonathan Martin of "The Seattle Times" wrote that Huckabee apparently failed to review Clemmons's prison file, which was "thick with acts of violence and absent indications of rehabilitation". Huckabee defended his actions, stating that the recommendation to reduce the sentence was unanimous and supported by the trial judge, that the decision to parole him was made by the parole board, not him, and that Clemmons had been re-arrested and the decision not to file charges then had nothing to do with him.


title: Mike Huckabee

text: At the August 11 Iowa Straw Poll, Huckabee took second place with 2,587 votes, roughly 18 percent, splitting the conservative Republican party votes amongst other candidates. Huckabee spent $57.98 per vote in the Straw Poll, which is the lowest among the top three finishers. Huckabee drew attention with an unconventional ad featuring Chuck Norris. In a later ad Huckabee wished voters a merry Christmas, and said that "what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ."


title: Mike Huckabee

text: In November 2007, Huckabee drew endorsements from a large number of religious activists, including Billy McCormack, a pastor in Shreveport, Louisiana, and a director and vice president of the Christian Coalition of America, founded in 1988 by a previous presidential candidate, Pat Robertson. He was criticized for using a bookshelf that resembled a cross in a Christmas commercial as a form of signaling to Christians, and laughed them off saying "I will confess this: If you play the spot backwards, it says, 'Paul is dead. Paul is dead.'" He also faced a "drumbeat" of questions about the role of faith in his gubernatorial administration and about past statements he made in 1998 about the U.S. being a "Christian nation" in which he said, "I hope we answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ." Huckabee told NBC that his comment was not politically incorrect and was "appropriate to be said to a gathering of Southern Baptists". Huckabee has credited God with some of his political success.