title: Midsummer

text: Many music festivals of all sizes are organized on the Midsummer weekend. It is also common to start summer vacation on Midsummer day. For many families Midsummer is the time when they move to the countryside to their summer cottage by the sea or lake. Midsummer is also a Finnish Flag Day: the national flag is hoisted at 6 pm on Midsummer's Eve and flown throughout the night until 9 pm the next evening. This is an exception to the normal rule of flying the flag from 8 am to sunset. Finnish Canadians in the New Finland district, Saskatchewan, Canada celebrate Juhannus.


title: Midsummer

text: In France, the (feast of St John), traditionally celebrated with bonfires () that are reminiscent of Midsummer's pagan rituals, is a Catholic festivity in celebration of Saint John the Baptist. It takes place on June 24, on Midsummer day (St John's Day). In certain French towns, a tall bonfire is built by the inhabitants in order to be lit on St John's Day. In the region and in the Southern part of , this huge bonfire is named .


title: Midsummer

text: France also rejoices on June 21 for the Fête de la Musique, which became an international celebration over time.


title: Midsummer

text: The day of sun solstice is called in German of which a word by word translation is "summer sun turning". On June 20, 1653, the Nuremberg town council issued the following order: "Where experience herefore have shown, that after the old heathen use, on John's day in every year, in the country, as well in towns as villages, money and wood have been gathered by young folk, and there upon the so-called or "zimmet fire" kindled, and thereat winebibbing, dancing about the said fire, leaping over the same, with burning of sundry herbs and flowers, and setting of brands from the said fire in the fields, and in many other ways all manner of superstitious work carried on — Therefore the Hon. Council of Nürnberg town neither can nor ought to forbear to do away with all such unbecoming superstition, paganism, and peril of fire on this coming day of St. John."


title: Midsummer

text: Bonfires are still a custom in many areas of Germany. People gather to watch the bonfire and celebrate solstice.


title: Midsummer

text: The date also marks the end of harvest for spring vegetables such as asparagus ("Spargelsilvester") or for rhubarb.


title: Midsummer

text: According to Eastern Orthodox tradition the eve of the day of the Nativity of John the Baptist is celebrated with festivals in many towns and villages, both in the mainland and in the Greek isles. Traditionally the midsummers celebration is called () meaning sign or oracle, and was considered a time when unmarried girls would discover their potential mates through a ritual. It is also customary to this day to burn the Mayday wreaths that are used to decorate the doors of the houses for the previous two months, in large communal bonfires, accompanied by music, dancing and jumping over the flames. It takes place on May 30 and May 31.


title: Midsummer

text: On June 21 Hungarians celebrate "Saint Ivan's Night" () ( being derived from the Slavic form of Johannes/John, "Ivan", which may correspond to Hungarian , , ). The whole month of June was once called the Month of St. Ivan until the 19th century. Setting fires is a folklore tradition this night. Girls jumped over it, while boys watched the spectacle.


title: Midsummer

text: Most significant among the customs of the summer is lighting the fire of Midsummer Night () on the day of St. John (June 24), when the sun follows the highest course, when the nights are the shortest and the days the longest. The practice of venerating Saint John the Baptist developed in the Catholic Church during the 5th century, and at this time they put his name and day on June 24. The summer solstice was celebrated among most peoples, so the Hungarians may have known it even before the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin. Although the Arab historian Ibn Rusta speaks of the Hungarians' fire worshipping, so far there is no data that could connect it to this day. In the Middle Ages it was primarily an ecclesiastical festivity, but from the 16th century on the sources recall it as a folk custom. The most important episode of the custom is the lighting of the fire.


title: Midsummer

text: The custom survived longest and in the most complete form in the northwestern part of the linguistic region, where as late as the 1930s they still lit a Midsummer Night fire. The way of arranging the participants by age and by sex has suggested the possibility that these groups sang by answering each other, but there are hardly any remnants that appear to support this possibility. People jumped over the fire after they lit it. This practice is mentioned as early as the 16th century, although at that time in connection with a wedding; still, it is called "Midsummer Night fire". The purpose of jumping over the fire is partly to purify, partly because they believed that those whose jump was very successful would get married during the following carnival.


title: Midsummer

text: In India, within the context of Hinduism, the Summer Solstice, or Midsummer's day, takes place on the 21st of June and is known as the Uttarayana. It is a day denoted with celebration, observation, and practice of Yoga.


title: Midsummer

text: Tiregān () is one of ancient Iranian festival coinciding with the mid summer festivals, another midsummer festival is Gilaki Bal Nowrooz which is held in the north of Iran.


title: Midsummer

text: Bal Nowrooz, meaning ‘the fire of Nowrooz’, is the name of a festival celebrated on the first day of ‘Our Nowrooz’ and this is the first day of Daylaman New Year.


title: Midsummer

text: Lighting the fire, thanking God for his blessings and crops, and praying for the peace of the souls of the dead were parts of this ancient Iranian tradition. This ceremony coincides with harvesting in Gilan.


title: Midsummer

text: On the first day of ‘Our Nowrooz’, the newly wed couples who have married in the past year, are given white horses to ride up to the foot of the mountain. As the brides and grooms reach the mountain foot, a yellow cow is set free, as a sign of happiness and abundance for the new couples.


title: Midsummer

text: Many towns and cities have 'Midsummer Carnivals' with fairs, concerts and fireworks either on or on the weekend nearest to Midsummer. In rural spots throughout the west, northwest, southwest and County Cork, bonfires are lit on hilltops on Saint John's Eve. This tradition harks back to pagan times. The Irish Environmental Protection Agency, after much initial upset in the west of Ireland, has an exemption for the burning of fires outdoors during midsummer night.


title: Midsummer

text: The Ballagh, a village in County Wexford, where the church is dedicated to St John the Baptist, holds its Patron on the first Sunday in July, this Sunday being the closest to the Old Calendar date for St John's Day.


title: Midsummer

text: San Giovanni's day has been celebrated in Florence since medieval times, and certainly in the Renaissance, with festivals sometimes lasting three days from 21 to 24 June. Such celebrations are held nowadays in Cesena from June 21 to 24, featuring a special street market.


title: Midsummer

text: Saint John the Baptist is the patron saint of Genoa, Florence and Turin where fireworks displays take place during the celebration. In Turin Saint John's festival has been practiced since medieval times, with people from the surrounding areas coming to dance around the bonfire in the central square.


title: Midsummer

text: Italian neopagans usually celebrate Midsummer with rites, dances and festivals all around the country.


title: Midsummer

text: In Jersey most of the former midsummer customs are largely ignored nowadays. The custom known as "Les cônes d'la Saint Jean" was observed as late as the 1970s – horns or conch shells were blown. Ringing the "bachîn" (a large brass preserving pan) at midsummer to frighten away evil spirits survived as a custom on some farms until the 1940s and has been revived as a folk performance in the 21st century.


title: Midsummer

text: In Latvia, Midsummer is called "Jāņi" (plural of Latvian name Jānis, which is equivalent to John) or Līgo svētki (svētki = festival). It is a national holiday celebrated from the night of June 23 through June 24 on a large scale by almost everyone in Latvia and by people of Latvian origin abroad. Celebrations consist of a lot of traditional and mostly pagan elements – eating, Jāņi cheese, drinking beer, baking pīrāgi, singing Latvian folk songs dedicated to Jāņi, burning bonfires to keep light all through the night and jumping over it, wearing wreaths of flowers (for women) and oak leaves (for men) together with modern commercial products and ideas. There are tens and hundreds of different beliefs and traditions all over Latvia on what should be done on that day for good harvest, for predicting the future, for attracting your future spouse etc. People decorate their houses and lands with birch or sometimes oak branches and flowers as well as leaves, especially fern. In rural areas livestock is also decorated. In modern days small oak branches with leaves are attached to the cars in Latvia during the festivity. Jāņi has been a strong aspect of Latvian culture throughout history, originating in pre-Christian Latvia as an ancient fertility cult.


title: Midsummer

text: In the western town of Kuldīga, revellers mark the holiday by running naked through the town at three in the morning. The event has taken place since 2000. Runners are rewarded with beer, and police are on hand in case any "puritans" attempt to interfere with the naked run.


title: Midsummer

text: Midsummer is commonly called John's Day ("Joninės") in Lithuania, and is also known as Saint Jonas' Festival, Rasos (Dew Holiday), Kupolė, Midsummer Day and St. John's Day. It is celebrated in the night from 23 June to 24 June and on 24 June. The traditions include singing songs and dancing until the sun sets, telling tales, searching to find the magic fern blossom at midnight, jumping over bonfires, greeting the rising midsummer sun and washing the face with a morning dew, young girls float flower wreaths on the water of river or lake. These are customs brought from pagan culture and beliefs. The latter Christian tradition is based on the reverence of Saint John. Lithuanians with the names Jonas, Jonė, Janina receive many greetings from their family, relatives and friends.


title: Midsummer

text: As in Denmark, "Sankthansaften" is celebrated on June 23 in Norway. The day is also called "Jonsok", which means "John's wake", important in Roman Catholic times with pilgrimages to churches and holy springs. For instance, up until 1840, there was a pilgrimage to the Røldal Stave Church in Røldal (southwest Norway) whose crucifix was said to have healing powers. Today, however, "Sankthansaften" is largely regarded as a secular or even pre-Christian event.


title: Midsummer

text: In most places, the main event is the burning of a large bonfire. In Western Norway, a custom of arranging mock weddings, both between adults and between children, is still kept alive. The wedding was meant to symbolize the blossoming of new life. Such weddings are known to have taken place in the 1800s, but the custom is believed to be older.


title: Midsummer

text: It is also said that, if a girl puts flowers under her pillow that night, she will dream of her future husband.


title: Midsummer

text: Especially in northern Poland – the Eastern Pomeranian and Kashubian regions – midsummer is celebrated on 21 or 22 June. Girls throw wreaths made of flowers and candles into the Baltic Sea, and into lakes or rivers. The midsummer day celebration starts at about 8:00 p.m. and lasts all night until sunrise. People celebrate this special day every year and call it "Noc Świętojańska" which means St. John's Night. On that day in big Polish cities (like Warsaw and Kraków) there are many organized events, the most popular event being in Kraków, called the "Wianki," which means wreaths. In many parts of Poland the Summer solstice is celebrated as "Kupala Night". Also, an important tradition is looking in the forest for the flower of the fern (as fern does not flower, this means something impossible to find without an interference of magic). Jumping above bonfires used to be a widely spread custom too.


title: Midsummer

text: In Portugal, Midsummer festivities are included in what is known today as "Santos Populares" (Popular Saints celebrations), celebrating the three main saints of June: St. Anthony (13 June), celebrated in Lisbon, Estarreja, Vila Nova de Famalicão, and Vila Real among others; São João (St. John's Day, 24 June) in Porto, Braga, Figueira da Foz, Vila do Conde, Almada and many others; St. Peter's day (29 June) in Seixal, Sintra, Póvoa de Varzim, Barcelos, and various other locations, mostly associated with fishermen.


title: Midsummer

text: In anticipation of Popular Saints, streets are decorated with balloons and arches made out of brightly coloured paper, people dance in the city's squares, and "Cascatas" (makeshift altars), dedicated to the saints, are put up to show each neighbourhood's devotion and pride. These holidays are days of festivities with good food and refreshments. Typical dishes include Caldo verde (Portuguese cabbage and potato soup), sardinhas assadas na brasa (open grilled sardines), boroa (oven baked bread), funfair food (mostly cotton candy and "farturas", a fried batter with sugar and cinnamon) and drink (mostly) red wine and água-pé (grape juice with a small percentage of alcohol).


title: Midsummer

text: Around the day of the festivities, there is also group folk dancing, traditional music, including "Cantar à desgarrada" (musical rhyming duels), and the inescapable firework displays. Until fire regulations brought about by some serious forest fires discouraged them, bonfires and hot air balloons were lit, around which all these events used to happen. Revellers would try to jump over the bonfire, mostly young men trying to show off to the young women, and older men trying to convince themselves that they are still young. Other typical activities include trying to clime a pau-de-sebo (greased pole) to claim a reward (frequently a cod or ham) and "Rusgas" which are a mixture of running, singing, dancing and tomfoolery, mostly by youthful groups. Funfair attractions have also become a mainstay of festivities.


title: Midsummer

text: In Lisbon, in Avenida da Liberdade, there are the "Marchas", a parade of folklore and costumes of the inhabitants from the city's different traditional quarters, with hundreds of singers and dancers and a vast audience applauding their favourite participants. As St. Anthony is the matchmaker saint, it is still the tradition in Lisbon to celebrate multiple marriages (200 to 300) and according to tradition, one can declare oneself to someone one fancies in the heat of the festivities by offering the loved one a "manjerico" (a flower-pot with a sweet basil plant) and a love poem.


title: Midsummer

text: In Porto and Braga St. John's is celebrated in the streets, where many normally frowned-upon things are permitted. People carry a plant of flowering leek ("alho-porro," which has a pungent smell) with them, and run it over the face of other people. Starting in 1963, people have also carried a small plastic hammer which they use to bang their neighbors over the head. The tradition is that St. John was a scalliwag in his youth and the people hit him on the head with the garlic saying "return to the right path".


title: Midsummer

text: In traditional fisher towns, festivities take place on Saint Peter's Day, Póvoa do Varzim, which became a municipal holiday in the 1960s. Póvoa de Varzim's Saint Peter Festival keeps traditional "Santos Populares" elements, such as the bonfire, street celebrations, and include the "rusgas", in which inhabitants of one quarter ("bairro") parade to other neighbourhoods in the evening of June 28. Women are dressed as tricana (women dressed in a traditional costume with a sensual walking style). Each neighbourhood has its own festival and colors for identification.


title: Midsummer

text: In Romania, the Midsummer celebrations are named "Drăgaica" or "Sânziene". Drăgaica is celebrated by a dance performed by a group of 5–7 young girls of which one is chosen as "the Drăgaica". She is dressed as a bride, with wheat wreath, while the other girls, dressed in white wear a veil with bedstraw flowers. Midsummer fairs are held in many Romanian villages and cities. The oldest and best known midsummer fair in Romania is the Drăgaica fair, held in Buzău between 10 and 24 June every year. There are many superstitions related to this day, particularly those involving marriage or death. The term Sânziene originates in the Latin "Sancta Diana", and superstitions relating to this day are mainly romantic in nature, referring to young girls and their marriage prospects.


title: Midsummer

text: Many rites of this holiday are connected with water, fertility and autopurification. The girls, for example, would float their flower garlands on the water of rivers and tell their fortunes from their movement. Lads and girls would jump over the flames of bonfires. Nude bathing is likewise practiced. Nights on the Eve of Ivan Kupala inspired Modest Mussorgsky to create his "Night on Bald Mountain". A prominent Ivan Kupala night scene is featured in Andrei Tarkovsky's film "Andrei Rublev". Also, in Saint Petersburg the White Nights Festival is also predominantly connected with water.


title: Midsummer

text: The Yakut people of the Sakha Republic celebrate a solstitial ceremony, "Ysyakh", involving tethering a horse to a pole and circle dancing around it. Betting on Reindeer or horse racing would often take place afterward. The traditions are derived from Tengriism, the ancient sun religion of the region which has since been driven out by the Russian empire, Russian Orthodox Church and finally the Communist Party. The traditions have since been encouraged.


title: Midsummer

text: "Ivanjdan" is celebrated on July 7, according to the Serbian Orthodox Church. Saint John (Sveti Jovan) is known by the name "Igritelj" (dancer) because it is thought the sun is dancing on this day. Among traditions are that girls watch the sunrise through their wreath, to become red as the sun, towards the evening in the heights, "Ivanjske vatre" (kresovi, "bonfire") are lit, and dancing and singing takes place. It is a tradition for people to become godfathers and blood brothers on this day, as John is a symbol of character and rectitude.


title: Midsummer

text: In Slovenia, "Kresna noč" (Midsummer Night) used to be celebrated on June 21, but the celebration was later moved to May 1, International Workers Day. Kresna noč used to be connected with the Slavic god Kresnik, who was later replaced by St. John the Baptist.


title: Midsummer

text: The traditional midsummer party in Spain is the celebration in honour of Saint John the Baptist (Spanish: "San Juan", Catalan: "Sant Joan", Galician: "San Xoán", Asturian: "San Xuan") and takes place in the evening of June 23 Saint John's Eve. It is common in many areas of the country. In some areas, bonfires are traditionally named "tequeos", which means people of the dance. Parties are organized usually at beaches, where bonfires are lit and a set of firework displays usually take place. On the Mediterranean coast, especially in Catalonia and Valencia, special foods such as "coca de Sant Joan" are also served on this occasion. In Alicante, since 1928, the bonfires of Saint John were developed into elaborate constructions inspired by the Falles, or Fallas, of Valencia.


title: Midsummer

text: Midsummer tradition is also especially strong in northern areas of the country, such as Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country, where one can easily identify the rituals that reveal the pagan beliefs widespread throughout Europe in Neolithic times. These beliefs pivot on three basic ideas: the importance of medicinal plants, especially in relation to health, youth and beauty; the protective character of fire to ward men off evil spirits and witches and, finally, the purifying, miraculous effects of water. What follows is a summary of Galician traditions surrounding St. John's festival in relation to these three elements.


title: Midsummer

text: Raising and dancing around a maypole ("majstång" or "midsommarstång") is an activity that attracts families and many others. Greenery placed over houses and barns was supposed to bring good fortune and health to people and livestock; this old tradition of decorating with greens continues, though most people no longer take it seriously. To decorate with greens was called "att maja" (to may) and may be the origin of the word "majstång", "maja" coming originally from the month May, or vice versa. Other researchers say the term came from German merchants who raised the maypole in June because the Swedish climate made it impossible to find the necessary greens and flowers in May, and continued to call it a maypole.


title: Midsummer

text: In earlier times, small spires wrapped in greens were erected; this probably predates the maypole tradition, which is believed by many to have come from the continent in the Middle Ages.


title: Midsummer

text: In Sweden Midsummer's day is a Saturday between June 20 and June 26, but as is usual in Sweden the actual celebration is on the eve, i.e. a Friday between June 19 and June 25. Midsummer's Eve is a de facto public holiday in Sweden with offices and many shops closed.


title: Midsummer

text: Like in Norway and Finland, it is believed that if a girl picks 7 different flowers in silence of the midsummer night and puts them underneath her pillow, she will dream of her future husband.


title: Midsummer

text: Another tradition on a Swedish Midsummer is to end it with a skinny dip at night. It's not mandatory to be naked, but many will be completely naked accompanied with an old or new partner after a couple of the famous schnapps.


title: Midsummer

text: Ivan Kupala was the old Kyiv Rus' name for John the Baptist. Up to the present day, the Rus' Midsummer Night (or Ivan's Day) is known as one of the most expressive Kyiv Rus' folk and pagan holidays. Ivan Kupala Day is the day of summer solstice celebrated in Ukraine on June 23 NS and July 6 OS. Before the day was named for St John, this was a celebration of a pagan fertility rite involving bathing in water. Since St John the Baptist's birth is celebrated at this time, some elements of Kupala's pagan origins were seen to be roughly synonymous with Christian meanings, most notably the parallel of Baptism as cleansing from sins, so the holiday in a Christian-modified form has been accepted into the Orthodox Christian calendar. In modern times, due to increasing secularization, it is possible to find Kupala being celebrated in a manner closer to its pagan roots.


title: Midsummer

text: In Great Britain from the 13th century, Midsummer was celebrated on Midsummer Eve (St. John's Eve, June 23) and St. Peter's Eve (June 28) with the lighting of bonfires, feasting, and merrymaking.


title: Midsummer

text: In late 14th-century England, John Mirk of Lilleshall Abbey, Shropshire, gives the following description: "At first, men and women came to church with candles and other lights and prayed all night long. In the process of time, however, men left such devotion and used songs and dances and fell into lechery and gluttony turning the good, holy devotion into sin." The church fathers decided to put a stop to these practices and ordained that people should fast on the evening before, and thus turned waking into fasting.


title: Midsummer

text: Mirk adds that at the time of his writing, "...in worship of St John the Baptist, men stay up at night and make three kinds of fires: one is of clean bones and no wood and is called a "bonnefyre"; another is of clean wood and no bones, and is called a "wakefyre", because men stay awake by it all night; and the third is made of both bones and wood and is called, "St. John's fire" (Festial 182)." These traditions largely ended after the Reformation, but persisted in rural areas up until the 19th century before petering out.


title: Midsummer

text: Other Midsummer festivities had uneasy relations with the Reformed establishment. The Chester Midsummer Watch Parade, begun in 1498, was held at every Summer Solstice in years when the Chester Mystery Plays were not performed. Despite the cancellation of the plays in 1575, the parade continued; in 1599, however, the Lord Mayor ordered that the parades be banned and the costumes destroyed. The parade was permanently banned in 1675.


title: Midsummer

text: Traditional Midsummer bonfires are still lit on some high hills in Cornwall (see Carn Brea and Castle an Dinas on Castle Downs). This tradition was revived by the Old Cornwall Society in the early 20th century. Bonfires in Cornwall were once common as part of , which is now celebrated at Penzance, Cornwall. This week long festival normally starts on the Friday nearest St John's Day. lasts several days and culminates in Mazey Day. This is a revival of the Feast of St John () with fireworks and bonfires.


title: Midsummer

text: Midsummer festivals are celebrated throughout Scotland, notably in the Scottish Borders where Peebles holds its Beltane Week. The Eve of St. John has special magical significance and was used by Sir Walter Scott as the title, and theme, for a pseudo-ballad poem. He invented a legend in which the lady of Smailholm Tower, near Kelso, keeps vigil by the midnight fires three nights in a row (see above) and is visited by her lover; but when her husband returns from battle, she learns he slew that lover on the first night, and she has been entertained by a very physical ghost.


title: Midsummer

text: In Wales it is called , or (St John's of Midsummer) to distinguish it from (St John's of Midwinter, the feast of John the Evangelist). Great agricultural fairs used to be held at this time, along with merriment and dancing. A bonfire was also kept this night. With the advent of non-conformist beliefs on the Welsh socio-political culture, this (among so many other similar festivals) suffered greatly, and its observance finally died out in south-east Wales by the end of the 19th century. However, since 1977, a folk-dance revival started in Cardiff, and is held now annually on this feast day


title: Midsummer

text: Midsummer celebrations held throughout the United States are largely derived from the cultures of immigrants who arrived from various European nations since the 19th century. With the rise of earth-centered spirituality, many, including Unitarian Universalists, celebrate the summer solstice as a religious holiday.


title: Midsummer

text: As the state of Alaska, northernmost state in the nation, straddles the Arctic Circle, midsummer is a time when most of the state is in daylight or civil twilight the entire day. The Midnight Sun Game is an annual tradition in the city of Fairbanks, in which a regulation game of baseball is played at 10:30 p.m. local time, through the midnight hour, with no artificial lighting.


title: Midsummer

text: Since 1974, Santa Barbara has hosted an annual Summer Solstice celebration, typically on the weekend of or the weekend after the actual solstice. It includes a festival and parade.


title: Midsummer

text: In Santa Clara County, the Swedish American Patriotic League has held a Midsummer celebration at Sveadal for more than 120 years. It includes a parade, decorating and raising a Maypole, dancing and other activities.


title: Midsummer

text: Geneva hosts a Swedish Day () festival on the third Sunday of June. The event, featuring maypole-raising, dancing, and presentation of an authentic Viking ship, dates back to 1911.


title: Midsummer

text: New Sweden, Maine. Ever since 51 Swedish immigrants came to Aroostook County, Maine in 1870, supported by a Legislative Act authored by William W. Thomas Jr., who had served as American Consul in Sweden under Abraham Lincoln, residents of the town have celebrated Midsommar. Celebrations are usually held the weekend before the holiday in Sweden and merge Swedish traditions such as the decorating and raising of the Midsommar pole, folk dancing, and feasting alongside American traditions. Thomas Jr. selected this region for a Swedish colony, in part, because the landscape, flora and fauna are similar to that of Dalarna County, Sweden.


title: Midsummer

text: In Kaleva, is celebrated annually on or near the Summer Solstice by Gathering at the Village Roadside Park. Traditionally (Finnish Oven Baked Pancake) and strawberry shortcake is enjoyed followed by a bonfire or . was founded in 1900 by Finnish immigrants.


title: Midsummer

text: The Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival has been a tradition on the North Coast of Oregon for over forty years. The Festival takes place typically on the 3rd full weekend of June. The festival embodies the rich cultural heritage that was transplanted to the Astoria, Oregon, region by emigrating Scandinavians. In the Pacific Northwest they found the same bounteous seas and forests as in their native lands and the demand for their skills at managing them.


title: Midsummer

text: The NYC Swedish Midsummer celebrations in Battery Park, New York City, attracts some 3,000–5,000 people annually, which makes it one of the largest celebrations after the ones held in Leksand and at the Skansen Park in Stockholm. Sweden Day, a Midsummer celebration which also honors Swedish heritage and history, has been held annually on the sound in Throgs Neck in New York since 1941. Swedish Midsummer is also celebrated in other places with large Swedish and Scandinavian populations, such as Rockford, Illinois, Chicago, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Lindsborg, Kansas. The Swedish "language village" (summer camp) , run by Concordia College in Minnesota, also celebrates Midsummer.


title: Midsummer

text: The Seattle neighborhood of Fremont puts on a large Summer Solstice Parade and Pageant, which for many years has controversially included painted naked cyclists. In St. Edwards Park in Kenmore, the Skandia Folkdance Society hosts , which includes a Scandinavian solstice pole.


title: Midsummer

text: A solstitial celebration is held on Casper Mountain at Crimson Dawn park. Crimson Dawn is known in the area for the great stories of mythical creatures and people that live on Casper Mountain. The celebration is attended by many people from the community, and from around the country. A large bonfire is held and all are invited to throw a handful of red soil into the fire in hopes that they get their wish granted.


title: Midsummer

text: As forms of Neopaganism can be quite different and have very different origins, these representations can vary considerably, despite the shared name. Some celebrate in a manner as close as possible to how they believe ancient pagans observed the summer solstice, while others observe the holiday with rituals culled from numerous other unrelated sources, the Germanic culture being just one of the sources used.


title: Midsummer

text: At the ancient monument of Stonehenge, in the English county of Wiltshire, many people like to gather for the Summer Solstice sunrise which is in alignment with the stones.


title: Midsummer

text: In Neo-druidism, the term "Alban Hefin" is used for the summer solstice. The name was invented by the late 18th century Welsh Romantic author and prolific literary forger Iolo Morganwg.


title: Midsummer

text: Germanic neopagans call their summer solstice festival Litha, which is part of the reconstructed Germanic calendar used by some Germanic Neopagans and takes its name from Bede's "De temporum ratione" that provides Anglo-Saxon names for the two months roughly corresponding to June and July as "līða", distinguished in Bosworth and Toller's dictionary as "sē ǽrra líða" ("the earlier Litha") and "sē æftera līða" ("the later Litha") with an intercalary third month of "līða" on leap years or "Triliði" ("three-Litha" years). In modern times, Litha is celebrated by neopagans who emphasize what they believe to be the reconstruction of Anglo-Saxon Germanic paganism.


title: Joe Metheny

text: Joseph Roy "Joe" Metheny (March 2, 1955 – August 5, 2017) was an American serial killer and rapist from the Baltimore, Maryland area. While he claimed to have killed 13 people, sufficient evidence was only found to convict him of two murders. Research later confirmed 3 more victims, though he had not been charged with them.


title: Joe Metheny

text: Metheny's attorneys said that he had been neglected as a child and that made him depressed, that his father was an alcoholic who was killed in a car accident when Metheny was six, and that his mother had neglected her six children while she worked double shifts outside the home. Metheny said that his parents often sent him to live with other families in "foster-like" arrangements.


title: Joe Metheny

text: Metheny falsely claimed that his mother was dead. His mother said that they were somewhat poor and she had to work hard as a waitress, barmaid, and food truck driver, but she had provided her children with a normal family life, and the children had never gone hungry or been put into homes of other families as Metheny had claimed. She said that Metheny was an above-average student, always polite, and not mean as a child. She said that "he was smart and had a good childhood. If he was neglected, it was his own fault. It was a pretty good home."


title: Joe Metheny

text: Metheny joined the United States Army when he turned 18 in 1973. His mother said that he had served in Germany, although he claimed that he had served a tour in Vietnam and had become addicted to heroin while in an artillery unit there. His mother said that she had no recollection of him serving in Vietnam, and the circumstances of his service were reported as unverified in press reports. American involvement in Vietnam had ended by that time.


title: Joe Metheny

text: Metheny seldom contacted his mother after he joined the Army. She said, "He just kept drifting further and further away. I think the worst thing that ever happened to him was drugs. It's a sad, sad story."


title: Joe Metheny

text: Metheny was ironically known as "Tiny" in the 1990s, as he was 6′1″, large-framed, and overweight. He had been spending time in bars, living with bands of homeless men in makeshift camps in South Baltimore, and spending nearly all of his money on crack cocaine, heroin, and liquor. However, he held a steady job as a forklift driver and was universally described as intelligent, well-spoken, and very well-mannered.


title: Joe Metheny

text: Metheny murdered Cathy Ann Magaziner in 1994, a 39-year-old woman, and buried her body in a shallow grave on the site of the factory where he worked. The body remained there for more than two years. He later said that he had strangled her and that he dug up her skeleton six months later, put her head in a box, and threw it in the trash.


title: Joe Metheny

text: Metheny was tried for murder in a different case in 1995 for allegedly killing Randall Brewer and Randy Piker with an axe at a homeless "tent city" campsite under Baltimore's Hanover Street Bridge. There had been disputes involving rival groups of homeless men, and Larry Amos was convicted of stealing the murder weapon and using it to kill Everett Dowell, another homeless man. The bodies were discovered on August 2, 1995, the same day that Dowell was killed. Amos was arrested and accused of first-degree murder and pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter; he was released after serving one year and nine months of an eight-year sentence. A jury concluded in July 1996 that there was insufficient evidence to convict Metheny of murdering Brewer and Piker, but he later said that he was guilty of those murders.


title: Joe Metheny

text: Metheny killed Kimberly Lynn Spicer in mid-November 1996 by stabbing her with a knife. He kidnapped Rita Kemper on December 8, 1996, and attempted to rape her. According to prosecutors, he shared drugs with Kemper in the trailer where he was living at the pallet factory site. She refused to have sex with him and ran out of the trailer, so he chased her, beat her, dragged her back into the trailer, and then pulled down her pants and attempted to rape her. Kemper said he had attempted to murder her, saying: "I'm going to kill you and bury you in the woods with the other girls." She escaped through a window of the trailer and fled to police officers in the area.


title: Joe Metheny

text: Metheny then asked a friend to help him bury the body of Spicer which he had been hiding at the factory site since killing her a month earlier. The friend reported it to the police on December 15, 1996, and Metheny was arrested and charged with her murder the same day. The owner of the business was arrested with Metheny as they left a Christmas party and was charged as an accessory after the fact for allegedly disposing of evidence. Metheny began confessing to other murders, as well as that of Spicer. He led police to the shallow grave where he had reburied Magaziner's decapitated remains. Much of the skull was missing, but the police were able to identify Magaziner from dental records.


title: Joe Metheny

text: Police said that he had chosen young white sex workers who were addicted to heroin and cocaine. The killings also involved brutal sexual assaults. He was indicted for killing Toni Lynn Ingrassia, age 28, but those charges were later dropped for lack of evidence. He claimed to have also killed three other prostitutes along Washington Boulevard in Baltimore, although there was no evidence of most of those crimes other than his confession.


title: Joe Metheny

text: He said that he had thrown bodies in the Patapsco River and they had never been found. "The Baltimore Sun" newspaper reported in 1997 that it was not clear how truthful his claims were about how many people he had killed, although he said that he had killed up to 10 people. His attorney said that he was remorseful and that drugs and alcohol had changed his personality and made him violent.


title: Joe Metheny

text: He was tried in 1997 in the Kemper case and given a sentence of 50 years for kidnapping and attempted sexual assault. He was acquitted of attempting to murder her. He was sentenced to death in 1998 for the murder of Spicer. At his sentencing hearing, he said that he committed murders because he "enjoyed it", he "got a rush out of it, got a high out of it" and "had no real excuse why other than I like to do it".


title: Joe Metheny

text: In August 1998, he pleaded guilty to murdering and robbing Magaziner, and prosecutors sought the death penalty in that case, as well. He received a sentence of life in prison in that case. His death sentence was overturned in 2000, and the sentence for the murder of Spicer was reduced to life without parole. The rationale for the death penalty was that the murder had been committed in committing a robbery, but the evidence indicated that robbery was not his motivation.


title: Joe Metheny

text: Metheny was found dead in his prison cell at the Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland, on August 5, 2017.


title: Shraddha Srinath

text: Shraddha Rama Srinath known Professionally as Shraddha Srinath (born 29 September 1990) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu films. She debuted with the Malayalam film "Kohinoor" and gained wide acclaim for her role in the Kannada psychological thriller "U Turn" (2016) for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress and also for her performances in "Jersey", "Urvi", "Vikram Vedha", "Nerkonda Paarvai" and "Operation Alamelamma". For the latter, she won Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – South award. She won the Zee Cine Awards Telugu for Best Find of the Year - Female in 2020 for her role in "Jersey".


title: Shraddha Srinath

text: Shraddha was born on 29 September 1990 in the town of Udhampur, Jammu & Kashmir. Her father was an officer in the Kumaon Regiment of the Indian Army and her mother was a school teacher. Kannada is her mother tongue. She was raised all over India and lived in the towns of Suratgarh (Rajasthan), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Dharchula (Uttarakhand) Belagavi (Karnataka), Silchar (Assam), and Secunderabad (Telangana). After graduating from 12th from Army School Secunderabad, she moved to Bangalore to study law at the Bangalore Institute of Legal Studies.


title: Shraddha Srinath

text: After graduating from law school, she started working as a real estate lawyer with a Bangalore-based real estate company and then moved to a French retail company as the real estate legal advisor. However, along with her full-time corporate job, she continued to act in plays and also appeared in several advertisements.


title: Shraddha Srinath

text: She was called to play the second female lead in the Malayalam film called "Kohinoor", directed by Vinay Govind, which released in September 2015. Her Kannada debut happened in May 2016 with "U Turn" which was directed by Pawan Kumar which premiered at the New York Indian Film Festival and then subsequently released in India and worldwide. Srinath received critical acclaim for this movie and received the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada.


title: Shraddha Srinath

text: Shraddha's 2017 releases are "Urvi", directed by B. S. Pradeep Varma and "Operation Alamelamma", directed by Simple Suni. She debuted in the Tamil industry by doing a small role in Mani Ratnam's "Katru Veliydai". Later she played the female lead in R. Kannan's movie "Ivan Thanthiran" opposite Gautham Karthik and R. J. Balaji in the lead and also in Pushkar Gayatri's movie "Vikram Vedha" opposite Madhavan. In "Richie" she paired opposite Nivin Pauly, directed by Gautham Ramachandran.


title: Shraddha Srinath

text: She started to get more offers in South Cinema Industry. She had appeared only in a song of "The Villain", along with Shiva Rajkumar.


title: Shraddha Srinath

text: which is directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia. After "Milan Talkies", her next release of the year was her Telugu debut opposite Nani in the sports drama "Jersey". The Times of India newspaper wrote that "Shraddha Srinath makes an impressive Telugu debut, as a woman who's head-over-heels in love with her husband, but is still not someone who will agree to put up with his carelessness." Her next release of the year was her Tamil movie "K-13", where she is paired opposite Arulnithi. Her next release of the year was her Kannada movie "Rustum", where she is paired opposite Shiva Rajkumar. Her next after "Rustum" was "Nerkonda Paarvai", the Tamil remake of Hindi movie "Pink", with Ajith. Her next release of the year was "Jodi", where she is paired opposite Aadi Saikumar. In 2021 her releases were Tamil films "Maara" and "Chakra". In 2022, her first release was Mohanlal starrer Malayalam film "Aaraattu".


title: Shraddha Srinath

text: As of March 2020, She is filming for "Godhra" and Rishabh Shetty's "Rudraprayaga" and she also shooting for Anup Bhandari's "Vikrant Rona". In Telugu she has completed shooting for Ravikanth Perepu's "Krishna and His Leela".


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: Mary Flannery O'Connor (March 25, 1925August 3, 1964) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. She wrote two novels and 31 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: She was a Southern writer who often wrote in a sardonic Southern Gothic style and relied heavily on regional settings and grotesque characters, often in violent situations. The unsentimental acceptance or rejection of the limitations or imperfections or differences of these characters (whether attributed to disability, race, crime, religion or sanity) typically underpins the drama.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: Her writing reflected her Roman Catholic faith and frequently examined questions of morality and ethics. Her posthumously compiled "Complete Stories" won the 1972 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction and has been the subject of enduring praise.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: O'Connor was born on March 25, 1925, in Savannah, Georgia, the only child of Edward Francis O'Connor, a real estate agent, and Regina Cline, who were both of Irish descent. As an adult, she remembered herself as a "pigeon-toed child with a receding chin and a you-leave-me-alone-or-I'll-bite-you complex". The Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home museum is located at 207 E. Charlton Street on Lafayette Square.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: In 1940, O'Connor and her family moved to Milledgeville, Georgia, where they initially lived with her mother's family at the so-called 'Cline mansion', in town. In 1937, her father had been diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus; it led to his eventual death on February 1, 1941, and O'Connor and her mother continued to live in Milledgeville. In 1951, they moved to Andalusia Farm, which is now a museum dedicated to O'Connor's work.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: O'Connor attended Peabody High School, where she worked as the school newspaper's art editor and from which she graduated in 1942. She entered Georgia State College for Women (now Georgia College & State University) in an accelerated three-year program and graduated in June 1945 with a B.A. in sociology and English literature. While at Georgia College, she produced a significant amount of cartoon work for the student newspaper. Many critics have claimed that the idiosyncratic style and approach of these early cartoons shaped her later fiction in important ways.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: In 1945, she was accepted into the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa, where she first went to study journalism. While there, she got to know several important writers and critics who lectured or taught in the program, among them Robert Penn Warren, John Crowe Ransom, Robie Macauley, Austin Warren and Andrew Lytle. Lytle, for many years editor of the "Sewanee Review", was one of the earliest admirers of her fiction. He later published several of her stories in the "Sewanee Review", as well as critical essays on her work. Workshop director Paul Engle was the first to read and comment on the initial drafts of what would become "Wise Blood". She received an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa in 1947. She remained at the Iowa Writers' Workshop for another year after completing her degree on a fellowship. During the summer of 1948, O'Connor continued to work on "Wise Blood" at Yaddo, an artists' community in Saratoga Springs, New York, where she also completed several short stories.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: In 1949 O'Connor met and eventually accepted an invitation to stay with Robert Fitzgerald (a well-known translator of the classics) and his wife, Sally, in Ridgefield, Connecticut.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: O'Connor is primarily known for her short stories. She published two books of short stories: "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" (1955) and "Everything That Rises Must Converge" (published posthumously in 1965). Many of O'Connor's short stories have been re-published in major anthologies, including "The Best American Short Stories" and "".


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: O'Connor's two novels are "Wise Blood" (1952) (made into a film by John Huston) and "The Violent Bear It Away" (1960). She also has had several books of her other writings published, and her enduring influence is attested by a growing body of scholarly studies of her work.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: Fragments exist of an unfinished novel tentatively titled "Why Do the Heathen Rage?" that draws from several of her short stories, including "Why Do the Heathen Rage?," "The Enduring Chill," and "The Partridge Festival".


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: Her writing career can be divided into four five-year periods of increasing skill and ambition, 1945 to 1964:


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: Regarding her emphasis of the grotesque, O'Connor said: "[A]nything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it is going to be called realistic." Her texts usually take place in the South and revolve around morally flawed characters, frequently interacting with people with disabilities or disabled themselves (as O'Connor was), while the issue of race often appears. Most of her works feature disturbing elements, though she did not like to be characterized as cynical. "I am mighty tired of reading reviews that call "A Good Man" brutal and sarcastic," she wrote. "The stories are hard but they are hard because there is nothing harder or less sentimental than Christian realism... When I see these stories described as horror stories I am always amused because the reviewer always has hold of the wrong horror."


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: She felt deeply informed by the sacramental and by the Thomist notion that the created world is charged with God. Yet she did not write apologetic fiction of the kind prevalent in the Catholic literature of the time, explaining that a writer's meaning must be evident in his or her fiction without didacticism. She wrote ironic, subtly allegorical fiction about deceptively backward Southern characters, usually fundamentalist Protestants, who undergo transformations of character that, to her thinking, brought them closer to the Catholic mind. The transformation is often accomplished through pain, violence, and ludicrous behavior in the pursuit of the holy. However grotesque the setting, she tried to portray her characters as open to the touch of divine grace. This ruled out a sentimental understanding of the stories' violence, as of her own illness. She wrote: "Grace changes us and the change is painful."


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: She also had a deeply sardonic sense of humor, often based in the disparity between her characters' limited perceptions and the awesome fate awaiting them. Another source of humor is frequently found in the attempt of well-meaning liberals to cope with the rural South on their own terms. O'Connor used such characters' inability to come to terms with disability, race, poverty, and fundamentalism, other than in sentimental illusions, as an example of the failure of the secular world in the twentieth century.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: However, in several stories O'Connor explored some of the most sensitive contemporary issues that her liberal and fundamentalist characters might encounter. She addressed the Holocaust in her story "The Displaced Person", racial integration in "Everything That Rises Must Converge" and intersexuality in "A Temple of the Holy Ghost". Her fiction often included references to the problem of race in the South; occasionally, racial issues come to the forefront, as in "The Artificial Nigger," "Everything that Rises Must Converge," and "Judgement Day," her last short story and a drastically rewritten version of her first published story, "The Geranium".


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: Despite her secluded life, her writing reveals an uncanny grasp of the nuances of human behavior. O'Connor gave many lectures on faith and literature, traveling quite far despite her frail health. Politically, she maintained a broadly progressive outlook in connection with her faith, voting for John F. Kennedy in 1960 and supporting the work of Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: By the summer of 1952, O'Connor was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus), as her father had been before her. She remained for the rest of her life on Andalusia. O'Connor lived for twelve years after her diagnosis, seven years longer than expected.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: Her daily routine was to attend Mass, write in the morning, then spend the rest of the day recuperating and reading. Despite the debilitating effects of the steroid drugs used to treat O'Connor's lupus, she nonetheless made over sixty appearances at lectures to read her works.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: In the PBS documentary, "Flannery", the writer Alice McDermott explains the impact lupus had on O'Connor's work, saying, "It was the illness, I think, which made her the writer she is."


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: O'Connor completed more than two dozen short stories and two novels while living with lupus. She died on August 3, 1964, at the age of 39 in Baldwin County Hospital. Her death was caused by complications from a new attack of lupus following surgery for a uterine fibroid. She was buried in Milledgeville, Georgia, at Memory Hill Cemetery.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: Throughout her life, O'Connor maintained a wide correspondence, including with writers Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop, English professor Samuel Ashley Brown, and playwright Maryat Lee. After her death, a selection of her letters, edited by her friend Sally Fitzgerald, was published as "The Habit of Being". Much of O'Connor's best-known writing on religion, writing, and the South is contained in these and other letters.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: In 1955, Betty Hester, an Atlanta file clerk, wrote O'Connor a letter expressing admiration for her work. Hester's letter drew O'Connor's attention, and they corresponded frequently. For "The Habit of Being", Hester provided Fitzgerald with all the letters she received from O'Connor but requested that her identity be kept private; she was identified only as "A." The complete collection of the unedited letters between O'Connor and Hester was unveiled by Emory University in May 2007; the letters had been given to the university in 1987 with the stipulation that they not be released to the public for 20 years.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: Emory University also contains the more than 600 letters O'Connor wrote to her mother, Regina, nearly every day while she was pursuing her literary career in Iowa City, New York, and Massachusetts. Some of these describe "travel itineraries and plumbing mishaps, ripped stockings and roommates with loud radios," as well as her request for the homemade mayonnaise of her childhood. O'Connor lived with her mother for 34 of her 39 years of life.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: O'Connor was a devout Catholic. From 1956 through 1964, she wrote more than one hundred book reviews for two Catholic diocesan newspapers in Georgia: "The Bulletin" and "The Southern Cross". According to fellow reviewer Joey Zuber, the wide range of books she chose to review demonstrated that she was profoundly intellectual. Her reviews consistently confronted theological and ethical themes in books written by the most serious and demanding theologians of her time. Professor of English Carter Martin, an authority on O'Connor's writings, notes simply that her "book reviews are at one with her religious life".


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: A prayer journal O'Connor had kept during her time at the University of Iowa was published in 2013. It included prayers and ruminations on faith, writing, and O'Connor's relationship with God.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: When she was six, O'Connor experienced her first brush with celebrity status. Pathé News filmed "Little Mary O'Connor" with her trained chicken and showed the film around the country. She said: "When I was six I had a chicken that walked backward and was in the Pathé News. I was in it too with the chicken. I was just there to assist the chicken but it was the high point in my life. Everything since has been an anticlimax."


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: In high school, when the girls were required to sew Sunday dresses for themselves, O'Connor sewed a full outfit of underwear and clothes to fit her pet duck and brought the duck to school to model it.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: As an adult at Andalusia, she raised and nurtured some 100 peafowl. Fascinated by birds of all kinds, she raised ducks, ostriches, emus, toucans, and any sort of exotic bird she could obtain, while incorporating images of peacocks into her books. She described her peacocks in an essay titled "The King of the Birds".


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: O'Connor's "Complete Stories" won the 1972 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction and, in a 2009 online poll, was named the best book ever to have won the National Book Awards.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: In June 2015, the United States Postal Service honored O'Connor with a new postage stamp, the 30th issuance in the Literary Arts series. Some criticized the stamp as failing to reflect O'Connor's character and legacy.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: The Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, named in honor of O'Connor by the University of Georgia Press, is a prize given annually since 1983 to an outstanding collection of short stories.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: In 1998, New Jersey rock artist Bruce Springsteen published the song "A Good Man Is Hard to Find (Pittsburgh)", based on the aforementioned short story. This was a recording from 1982.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: The Flannery O'Connor Book Trail is a series of Little Free Libraries stretching between O'Connor's homes in Savannah and Milledgeville.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: The Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home is a historic house museum in Savannah, Georgia, where O'Connor lived during her childhood. In addition to serving as a museum, the house hosts regular events and programs.


title: Flannery O'Connor

text: Loyola University Maryland had a student dormitory named for O'Connor. In 2020, Flannery O'Connor Hall was renamed in honor of activist Sister Thea Bowman. The announcement also mentions, "This renaming comes after recent recognition of Flannery O’Connor, a 20th century Catholic American writer, and the racism present in some of her work."


title: Rubella

text: Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infection caused by the rubella virus. This disease is often mild, with half of people not realizing that they are infected. A rash may start around two weeks after exposure and last for three days. It usually starts on the face and spreads to the rest of the body. The rash is sometimes itchy and is not as bright as that of measles. Swollen lymph nodes are common and may last a few weeks. A fever, sore throat, and fatigue may also occur. Joint pain is common in adults. Complications may include bleeding problems, testicular swelling, encephalitis, and inflammation of nerves. Infection during early pregnancy may result in a miscarriage or a child born with congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). Symptoms of CRS manifest as problems with the eyes such as cataracts, deafness, as well as affecting the heart and brain. Problems are rare after the 20th week of pregnancy.


title: Rubella

text: Rubella is usually spread from one person to the next through the air via coughs of people who are infected. People are infectious during the week before and after the appearance of the rash. Babies with CRS may spread the virus for more than a year. Only humans are infected. Insects do not spread the disease. Once recovered, people are immune to future infections. Testing is available that can verify immunity. Diagnosis is confirmed by finding the virus in the blood, throat, or urine. Testing the blood for antibodies may also be useful.


title: Rubella

text: Rubella is preventable with the rubella vaccine with a single dose being more than 95% effective. Often it is given in combination with the measles vaccine and mumps vaccine, known as the MMR vaccine. When some, but less than 80%, of a population is vaccinated, more women may reach childbearing age without developing immunity by infection or vaccination, thus possibly raising CRS rates. Once infected there is no specific treatment.


title: Rubella

text: Rubella is a common infection in many areas of the world. Each year about 100,000 cases of congenital rubella syndrome occur. Rates of disease have decreased in many areas as a result of vaccination. There are ongoing efforts to eliminate the disease globally. In April 2015 the World Health Organization declared the Americas free of rubella transmission. The name "rubella" is from Latin and means "little red". It was first described as a separate disease by German physicians in 1814 resulting in the name "German measles".


title: Rubella

text: Rubella has symptoms similar to those of flu. However, the primary symptom of rubella virus infection is the appearance of a rash (exanthem) on the face which spreads to the trunk and limbs and usually fades after three days, which is why it is often referred to as three-day measles. The facial rash usually clears as it spreads to other parts of the body. Other symptoms include low-grade fever, swollen glands (sub-occipital and posterior cervical lymphadenopathy), joint pains, headache, and conjunctivitis.


title: Rubella

text: The swollen glands or lymph nodes can persist for up to a week and the fever rarely rises above 38 °C (100.4 °F). The rash of rubella is typically pink or light red. The rash causes itching and often lasts for about three days. The rash disappears after a few days with no staining or peeling of the skin. When the rash clears up, the skin might shed in very small flakes where the rash covered it. Forchheimer spots occur in 20% of cases and is characterized by small, red papules on the area of the soft palate.


title: Rubella

text: Rubella can affect anyone of any age. Adult females are particularly prone to arthritis and joint pains.


title: Rubella

text: Coryza in rubella may convert to pneumonia, either direct viral pneumonia or secondary bacterial pneumonia, and bronchitis (either viral bronchitis or secondary bacterial bronchitis).


title: Rubella

text: Rubella can cause congenital rubella syndrome in the newborn, this being the most severe sequela of rubella. The syndrome (CRS) follows intrauterine infection by the rubella virus and comprises cardiac, cerebral, ophthalmic, and auditory defects. It may also cause prematurity, low birth weight, neonatal thrombocytopenia, anemia, and hepatitis. The risk of major defects in organogenesis is highest for infection in the first trimester. CRS is the main reason a vaccine for rubella was developed.


title: Rubella

text: 80-90% of mothers who contract rubella within the critical first trimester have either a miscarriage or a stillborn baby. If the fetus survives the infection, it can be born with severe heart disorders (patent ductus arteriosus being the most common), blindness, deafness, or other life-threatening organ disorders. The skin manifestations are called "blueberry muffin lesions". For these reasons, rubella is included in the TORCH complex of perinatal infections.


title: Rubella

text: The disease is caused by the rubella virus, in the genus Rubivirus from the family Matonaviridae, that is enveloped and has a single-stranded RNA genome. The virus is transmitted by the respiratory route and replicates in the nasopharynx and lymph nodes. The virus is found in the blood 5 to 7 days after infection and spreads throughout the body. The virus has teratogenic properties and is capable of crossing the placenta and infecting the fetus where it stops cells from developing or destroys them. During this incubation period, the patient is contagious typically for about one week before he/she develops a rash and for about one week thereafter.


title: Rubella

text: Increased susceptibility to infection might be inherited as there is some indication that HLA-A1 or factors surrounding A1 on extended haplotypes are involved in virus infection or non-resolution of the disease.


title: Rubella

text: Rubella virus specific IgM antibodies are present in people recently infected by rubella virus, but these antibodies can persist for over a year, and a positive test result needs to be interpreted with caution. The presence of these antibodies along with, or a short time after, the characteristic rash confirms the diagnosis.


title: Rubella

text: Rubella infections are prevented by active immunisation programs using live attenuated virus vaccines. Two live attenuated virus vaccines, RA 27/3 and Cendehill strains, were effective in the prevention of adult disease. However their use in prepubertal females did not produce a significant fall in the overall incidence rate of CRS in the UK. Reductions were only achieved by immunisation of all children.


title: Rubella

text: The vaccine is now usually given as part of the MMR vaccine. The WHO recommends the first dose be given at 12 to 18 months of age with a second dose at 36 months. Pregnant women are usually tested for immunity to rubella early on. Women found to be susceptible are not vaccinated until after the baby is born because the vaccine contains live virus.


title: Rubella

text: The immunisation program has been quite successful. Cuba declared the disease eliminated in the 1990s, and in 2004 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that both the congenital and acquired forms of rubella had been eliminated from the United States. The World Health Organisation declared Australia rubella free in October 2018.


title: Rubella

text: Screening for rubella susceptibility by history of vaccination or by serology is recommended in the United States for all women of childbearing age at their first preconception counseling visit to reduce incidence of congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). It is recommended that all susceptible non-pregnant women of childbearing age should be offered rubella vaccination. Due to concerns about possible teratogenicity, use of MMR vaccine is not recommended during pregnancy. Instead, susceptible pregnant women should be vaccinated as soon as possible in the postpartum period.


title: Rubella

text: In susceptible people passive immunization, in the form of polyclonal immunoglobulins appears effective up to the fifth day post-exposure.


title: Rubella

text: There is no specific treatment for rubella; however, management is a matter of responding to symptoms to diminish discomfort. Treatment of newborn babies is focused on management of the complications. Congenital heart defects and cataracts can be corrected by direct surgery.


title: Rubella

text: Management for ocular congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) is similar to that for age-related macular degeneration, including counseling, regular monitoring, and the provision of low vision devices, if required.


title: Rubella

text: Rubella infection of children and adults is usually mild, self-limiting and often asymptomatic. The prognosis in children born with CRS is poor.


title: Rubella

text: Rubella occurs worldwide. The virus tends to peak during the spring in countries with temperate climates. Before the vaccine against rubella was introduced in 1969, widespread outbreaks usually occurred every 6–9 years in the United States and 3–5 years in Europe, mostly affecting children in the 5–9 year old age group. Since the introduction of vaccine, occurrences have become rare in those countries with high uptake rates.


title: Rubella

text: Vaccination has interrupted the transmission of rubella in the Americas: no endemic case has been observed since February 2009. Vaccination is still strongly recommended as the virus could be reintroduced from other continents should vaccination rates in the Americas drop. During the epidemic in the U.S. between 1962 and 1965, rubella virus infections during pregnancy were estimated to have caused 30,000 stillbirths and 20,000 children to be born impaired or disabled as a result of CRS.


title: Rubella

text: Universal immunisation producing a high level of herd immunity is important in the control of epidemics of rubella.


title: Rubella

text: In the UK, there remains a large population of men susceptible to rubella who have not been vaccinated. Outbreaks of rubella occurred amongst many young men in the UK in 1993 and in 1996 the infection was transmitted to pregnant women, many of whom were immigrants and were susceptible. Outbreaks still arise, usually in developing countries where the vaccine is not as accessible. The complications encountered in pregnancy from rubella infection (miscarriage, fetal death, congenital rubella syndrome) are more common in Africa and Southeast Asia at a rate of 121 per 100,000 live births compared to 2 per 100,000 live births in the Americas and Europe.


title: Rubella

text: In Japan, 15,000 cases of rubella and 43 cases of congenital rubella syndrome were reported to the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases between October 15, 2012, and March 2, 2014, during the 2012–13 rubella outbreak in Japan. They mainly occurred in men aged 31–51 and young adults aged 24–34.


title: Rubella

text: Rubella was first described in the mid-eighteenth century. German physician and chemist, Friedrich Hoffmann, made the first clinical description of rubella in 1740, which was confirmed by de Bergen in 1752 and Orlow in 1758.


title: Rubella

text: In 1814, George de Maton first suggested that it be considered a disease distinct from both measles and scarlet fever. All these physicians were German, and the disease was known as Rötheln (contemporary German "Röteln"), Rötlich means "reddish" or "pink" in German. The fact that three Germans described it led to the common name of "German measles." Henry Veale, an English Royal Artillery surgeon, described an outbreak in India. He coined the name "rubella" (from the Latin word, meaning "little red") in 1866.


title: Rubella

text: It was formally recognised as an individual entity in 1881, at the International Congress of Medicine in London. In 1914, Alfred Fabian Hess theorised that rubella was caused by a virus, based on work with monkeys. In 1938, Hiro and Tosaka confirmed this by passing the disease to children using filtered nasal washings from acute cases.


title: Rubella

text: In 1940, there was a widespread epidemic of rubella in Australia. Subsequently, ophthalmologist Norman McAllister Gregg found 78 cases of congenital cataracts in infants and 68 of them were born to mothers who had caught rubella in early pregnancy. Gregg published an account, "Congenital Cataract Following German Measles in the Mother", in 1941. He described a variety of problems now known as congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) and noticed that the earlier the mother was infected, the worse the damage was. Since no vaccine was yet available, some popular magazines promoted the idea of "German measles parties" for infected children to spread the disease to other children (especially girls) to immunize them for life and protect them from later catching the disease when pregnant. The virus was isolated in tissue culture in 1962 by two separate groups led by physicians Paul Douglas Parkman and Thomas Huckle Weller.


title: Rubella

text: There was a pandemic of rubella between 1962 and 1965, starting in Europe and spreading to the United States. In the years 1964–65, the United States had an estimated 12.5 million rubella cases. This led to 11,000 miscarriages or therapeutic abortions and 20,000 cases of congenital rubella syndrome. Of these, 2,100 died as neonates, 12,000 were deaf, 3,580 were blind, and 1,800 were intellectually disabled. In New York alone, CRS affected 1% of all births.


title: Rubella

text: In 1967, the molecular structure of rubella was observed under electron microscopy using antigen-antibody complexes by Jennifer M. Best, June Almeida, J E Banatvala and A P Waterson.


title: Rubella

text: In 1969, a live attenuated virus vaccine was licensed. In the early 1970s, a triple vaccine containing attenuated measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) viruses was introduced. By 2006, confirmed cases in the Americas had dropped below 3000 a year. However, a 2007 outbreak in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile pushed the cases to 13,000 that year.


title: Rubella

text: On January 22, 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization declared and certified Colombia free of rubella and became the first Latin American country to eliminate the disease within its borders. On April 29, 2015, the Americas became the first WHO region to officially eradicate the disease. The last non-imported cases occurred in 2009 in Argentina and Brazil. Pan-American Health Organization director remarked "The fight against rubella has taken more than 15 years, but it has paid off with what I believe will be one of the most important pan-American public health achievements of the 21st Century." The declaration was made after 165 million health records and genetically confirming that all recent cases were caused by known imported strains of the virus. Rubella is still common in some regions of the world and Susan E. Reef, team lead for rubella at the CDC’s global immunization division, who joined in the announcement, said there was no chance it would be eradicated worldwide before 2020. Rubella is the third disease to be eliminated from the western hemisphere with vaccination after smallpox and polio.


title: Rubella

text: From "rubrum" the Latin for "red", rubella means "reddish and small". "German" measles derives from "germanus" which means "similar" in this context.


title: Rubella

text: The name "rubella" is sometimes confused with "rubeola", an alternative name for measles in English-speaking countries; the diseases are unrelated. In some other European languages, like Spanish, "rubella" and "rubeola" are synonyms, and "rubeola" is not an alternative name for measles. Thus, in Spanish, "rubeola" refers to rubella and "sarampión" refers to measles.


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: Wendi Deng Murdoch (; born December 5, 1968) is a Chinese-born American entrepreneur, investor, movie producer, media mogul, and collector of Chinese contemporary art.


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: Wendi Deng was born in Jinan, Shandong and raised in Xuzhou, Jiangsu. Her birth name was Deng Wenge (), Deng, the family name, and Wenge meaning "Cultural Revolution". She has two older sisters, and a brother, and both of her parents were engineers. When she was a teen she changed her given name to "Wendi".


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: She attended Xuzhou First Secondary School (a.k.a. Xuzhou No.1 Middle School). She became a competitive volleyball player. While she was in high school, her father relocated to Guangzhou, where he was a factory director at the People's Machinery Works; she and her family remained in Xuzhou until they joined their father a short time later. At the age of 16, she was enrolled at the Guangzhou Medical College.


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: In 1988, she left medical school and went to the United States on a study permit. She enrolled at California State University, Northridge, where she studied economics and was among the top scoring students. She obtained a BA in Economics from California State University at Northridge and an MBA from Yale University.


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: Upon graduation from Yale in 1996, Deng met Bruce Churchill. At that time, Churchill oversaw finance and corporate development at the Fox TV branch in Los Angeles. He offered Deng an internship at News Corp subsidiary Star TV in Hong Kong, which developed into a full-time junior executive position. Though a junior employee, she took a role in working to plan Star TV's operations in Hong Kong and China and helped to build up Chinese distribution for Star's Channel V music channel. Within one year, she became a vice president. Additionally, she investigated interactive TV opportunities for News Digital Systems.


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: In 2009, Murdoch co-founded the online platform Artsy with Carter Cleveland and Dasha Zhukova, which has since become one of the top online places for buying, viewing and learning about art. Other investors include Peter Thiel, François Pinault and Eric Schmidt.


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: Murdoch was an advisor for MySpace's China operation, prior to the company's sale to Specific Media in June 2011.<ref name="chinaeconomicreview 2007/07/04"> </ref>


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: She led the Murdoch family's Chinese internet investments and helped form business links with China for high-speed video and internet access.


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: In 2011, Murdoch co-produced her first film with Florence Sloan, "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan", a movie about two footbound children in Qing dynasty China, directed by Wayne Wang. The film won the Golden Angel Award at the Chinese American Film Festival.


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: She also produced the Netflix documentary Sky Ladder which showcased the art of Cai Guo-Qiang and directed by Academy Award-winning director Kevin MacDonald. The film premiered in January 2016 at the Sundance Film Festival. Sotheby's hosted a private reception and screening of the film in October 2016 before the film's Netflix debut.


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: Jake and Joyce Cherry hosted Deng in their home during her studies in the United States. Later, Jake Cherry left his wife, and married Wendi Deng in 1990. While married to Cherry, Wendi obtained a green card. Their marriage lasted 2 years and 7 months when they divorced. Jake later said that they stayed together for only four to five months when he learned that Deng was spending time with David Wolf, a man closer to her age.


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: In 1997, she met Rupert Murdoch, who is 37 years her senior, while working as an executive at the Murdoch-owned Star TV in Hong Kong. They married in 1999 on board his yacht "Morning Glory", less than three weeks after the finalization of his divorce from his second wife, Anna Murdoch. The couple had two children, Grace (born 2001) and Chloe (born 2003). Tony Blair is Grace Murdoch's godfather. In June 2013, Rupert Murdoch filed for divorce from Deng, citing irreconcilable differences.


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: On July 19, 2011, Wendi Murdoch attacked Jonathan May-Bowles (comedian Jonnie Marbles) after he threw a pie at her husband Rupert Murdoch while he was giving testimony before a British parliamentary committee considering the News International phone hacking scandal. May-Bowles was subsequently sentenced to six weeks' imprisonment.


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: In February 2014, "The Daily Telegraph" and "Vanity Fair" alleged that Wendi Murdoch might have had an affair with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. An article in "The Economist" claimed that as a result of Rupert Murdoch's suspicion that Blair had an affair with his wife, he ended his long-standing association with Blair in 2014.


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: In early 2018, "The Wall Street Journal" published a story suggesting that Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, longtime friends of Murdoch, were warned by US intelligence agencies that Murdoch may be using her relationship with them to further the goals of the Chinese government. Michael Wolff, author of "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House", posited that the article was an attempt by Rupert Murdoch, owner of "The Wall Street Journal", to spread the idea that "Wendi is a Chinese spy" in the aftermath of their acrimonious divorce.


title: Wendi Deng Murdoch

text: Murdoch lives in New York City with her two daughters. Grace goes to Yale University, and Chloe studies at Stanford.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer, and panellist. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of Oxford. Starting on BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 4, his early work with Chris Morris on the radio series "On the Hour" transferred to television as "The Day Today". A character from this series, Alan Partridge, co-created by Iannucci, went on to feature in a number of Iannucci's television and radio programmes, including "Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge" and "I'm Alan Partridge". Iannucci also fronted the satirical "Armistice" review shows and in 2001 created his most personal work, "The Armando Iannucci Shows", for Channel 4.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: Moving back to the BBC in 2005, Iannucci created the political sitcom "The Thick of It" and the spoof documentary "Time Trumpet" in 2006. Winning funding from the UK Film Council, in 2009 he directed a critically acclaimed feature film, "In the Loop", featuring characters from "The Thick of It". As a result of these works, he has been described by "The Daily Telegraph" as "the hardman of political satire". Other works during this period include an operetta libretto, "Skin Deep", and his radio series "Charm Offensive". Iannucci created the HBO political satire "Veep", and was its showrunner for four seasons from 2012 to 2015. For his work on "Veep" he won two Emmys in 2015, Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. He followed this with the feature films "The Death of Stalin" in 2017 and "The Personal History of David Copperfield", a 2019 adaptation of the novel "David Copperfield". In 2020, he created the comedy series "Avenue 5" on HBO.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: Iannucci was born in Glasgow. His father, also called Armando, was from Naples, while his mother was born in Glasgow to an Italian family. Before emigrating, Iannucci's father wrote for an anti-fascist newspaper as a teenager and joined the Italian partisans at 17. He came to Scotland in 1950 and ran a pizza factory in Springburn in Glasgow.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: Iannucci has two brothers and a sister. His childhood home was near that of actor Peter Capaldi, who went on to play Malcolm Tucker in "The Thick of It", a TV show created by Iannucci; although their parents knew each other well, he and Capaldi did not know each other in childhood. In his teens, Iannucci thought seriously about becoming a Roman Catholic priest.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: Iannucci was educated at St Peter's Primary School, St. Aloysius' College, Glasgow, the University of Glasgow and University College, Oxford, where he studied English literature. He was conducting a DPhil about 17th-century religious language, with particular reference to Milton's "Paradise Lost", which he abandoned to follow a comedy career. He was particularly inspired by the American comedian and filmmaker Woody Allen, later calling him his "all-time comedy hero".


title: Armando Iannucci

text: After making several programmes at BBC Scotland in the early 1990s such as the "No' The Archie McPherson Show", he moved to BBC Radio in London, making radio shows including "Armando Iannucci" for BBC Radio 1, which featured a number of comedians he was to collaborate with for many years, including David Schneider, Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan and Rebecca Front.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: Iannucci first received widespread fame as the producer for "On the Hour" on Radio 4, which transferred to television as "The Day Today". He received critical acclaim for both his own talents as a writer and a producer, and for first bringing together such comics as Chris Morris, Richard Herring, Stewart Lee, Baynham and Coogan. The members of this group went on to work on separate projects and create a new comedy "wave" pre-New Labour: Morris went on to create "Brass Eye", "Blue Jam" and the "Chris Morris Music Show"; Stewart Lee and Richard Herring created "Fist of Fun" and "This Morning with Richard Not Judy".


title: Armando Iannucci

text: Baynham was closely involved with both Morris's and Lee & Herring's work. Lee would go on to co-write "", and wrote early material for Coogan's character Alan Partridge, who first appeared in "On the Hour", and has featured in multiple spin-off series. Between 1995 and 1999, Iannucci produced and hosted "The Saturday Night Armistice".


title: Armando Iannucci

text: In 2000, he created two pilot episodes for Channel 4, which became "The Armando Iannucci Shows". This was an eight-part series for Channel 4 broadcast in 2001, written with Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil. The series consisted of Iannucci pondering pseudo-philosophical and jocular ideas and fantasies in between surreal sketches. Iannucci has been quoted as saying it is the comedy series he is most proud of making. He told "Metro" in April 2007: ""The Armando Iannucci Show" on Channel 4 came out around 9/11, so it was overlooked for good reasons. People had other things on their minds. But that was the closest to me expressing my comic outlook on life."


title: Armando Iannucci

text: After championing "Yes Minister" on the BBC's "Britain's Best Sitcom", Iannucci devised, directed and was chief writer of "The Thick of It", a political satire-cum-farce for BBC Four. It starred Chris Langham as an incompetent cabinet minister being manipulated by a cynical, foul-mouthed Press Officer, Malcolm Tucker. It was first broadcast for two short series on BBC Four in 2005, initially with a small cast focusing on a government minister, his advisers and their party's spin-doctor. The cast was significantly expanded for two hour-long specials to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's appointment as Prime Minister in 2007, which saw new characters forming the opposition party added to the cast. These characters continued when the show switched channels to BBC Two for its third series in 2009. A fourth series about a coalition government was broadcast in 2012. In a 2012 interview, Iannucci said the fourth series of the programme would probably be its last.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: Based on a format he had used in "" in 1996 and "", in mid-2006, his spoof documentary series "Time Trumpet" was shown on BBC 2. The series looked back on past events through highly edited clips and "celebrity" interviews, looking back on the present and near-future from the year 2031. One episode, featuring fictional terrorist attacks on London and the assassination of Tony Blair, was postponed and edited in August 2006 amid the terrorism scares in British airports at that time. Jane Thynne, writing in "The Independent", accused the BBC of lacking backbone.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: He created the American HBO political satire television series "Veep", starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, set in the office of Selina Meyer, a fictional Vice-President of the United States. "Veep" uses a similar cinéma-vérité filming style to "The Thick of It". Debuting in 2012, the show has aired seven seasons, winning multiple awards including seventeen Primetime Emmy Awards. However, beginning with season five, Iannucci stepped down as showrunner due to "personal reasons".


title: Armando Iannucci

text: In 2019, he began work on a new science fiction sitcom for HBO called "Avenue 5," which premiered in 2020 He subsequently became the series executive producer and directed the pilot.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: Iannucci's non-television works include "Smokehammer", a web-based project with Chris Morris, and the 1997 book "Facts and Fancies", composed of his newspaper columns, which was turned into a BBC Radio 4 series. The radio series "Scraps With Iannucci", which followed late in 1998, featured Iannucci using his tape-fiddling skills to present a review of the year.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: In 2007, he directed a series of Post Office television adverts, featuring the actors John Henshaw, Rory Jennings and Di Botcher alongside guest stars Joan Collins, Bill Oddie and Westlife.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: He has appeared on Radio 3 talking about classical music, one of his passions, and collaborated with composer David Sawer on "Skin Deep", an operetta, which was premiered by Opera North on 16 January 2009. He has also presented three programmes for BBC Radio 3, including "Mobiles Off!", a 20-minute segment on classical concert-going etiquette. He was a regular columnist for the classical music magazine "Gramophone". A book of his writings about classical music "Hear Me Out" was published in 2017.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: In 2012 it was announced that he was writing his first novel, "Tongue International", a satirical fantasy about the promotion of a "for-profit language".


title: Armando Iannucci

text: In January 2009, his first feature film "In the Loop", in the style of "The Thick of It", was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It was the first cinema film to be directed by Iannucci, after his contribution to "Tube Tales" in 1999. The film was applauded by critics, both in Britain and the US, and was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar in 2009. The film secured the eighth highest placing in the UK box office in its opening week – despite its relatively insignificant screening numbers.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: His second feature film was "The Death of Stalin", about the power struggle which followed the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953. It was released in October 2017 in the United Kingdom. The film was banned in Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for allegedly mocking the countries' pasts and making fun of their leaders. However, it received a Magritte Award nomination in the category of Best Foreign Film and was a critical success.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: His third feature film was an adaptation of Charles Dickens's "David Copperfield" entitled "The Personal History of David Copperfield". It was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 24 January 2020 and received critical acclaim.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: Iannucci has won two Sony Radio Awards and three British Comedy Awards. In 2003, he was listed in "The Observer" as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. He was also subject of a 2006 edition of "The South Bank Show".


title: Armando Iannucci

text: In January 2006 he was named News International Visiting Professor of Broadcast Media at the University of Oxford, where he has delivered a series of four lectures under the title "British Comedy – Dead Or Alive?".


title: Armando Iannucci

text: In June 2011, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Glasgow to recognise his contribution to film and television.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting. Alastair Campbell's response to his appointment was "Three little letters can have more impact than you realise", to which Iannucci replied, via Twitter, "WMD" (a reference to Campbell's role in preparing the "September Dossier" prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq).


title: Armando Iannucci

text: In the 2010 general election Iannucci supported the Liberal Democrats, stating: "I'll be voting Lib Dem this election because they represent the best chance in a lifetime to make lasting and fair change to how the UK is governed." After the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition of 2010 was established, however, he expressed doubts over his continued support for the party, saying he was 'wavering' on many issues and has admitted to 'queasiness' over the Coalition's economic measures. He also seemed to contemplate targeting the Liberal Democrats in the fourth series of "The Thick of It", rather as the first three had targeted what he perceived as the failings within the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: In July 2018, Iannucci announced his support on Twitter for People's Vote, a campaign group calling for a public vote on the final Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union. He also expressed these views the following month in an editorial in the "Daily Mirror", and they went on to be reported in other British newspapers.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: In 1990, he married Rachel Jones, whom he met when she designed the lighting for his one-man show at Oxford. They have two sons and one daughter and currently live in Hertfordshire.


title: Armando Iannucci

text: He is a former patron of the Silver Star Society, a charity supporting women through difficult pregnancies. In April 2012, as part of his support for the Silver Star Society, he abseiled from the top of the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford to raise money for the hospital's specialist pregnancy unit.


title: Underworld (2003 film)

text: Underworld is a 2003 action horror film directed by Len Wiseman and written by Danny McBride, based on a story by Kevin Grevioux, Wiseman and McBride. Kevin Grevioux wrote the original screenplay. The film centers on the secret history of vampires and lycans (an abbreviated form of "lycanthrope", which means werewolf). It is the first (chronologically, the second) installment in the "Underworld" franchise. The main plot revolves around Selene (Kate Beckinsale), a vampire Death Dealer hunting Lycans. She finds herself attracted to a human, Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman), who is being targeted by the Lycans. After Michael is bitten by a Lycan, Selene must decide whether to do her duty and kill him or go against her clan and save him. Alongside Beckinsale and Speedman, the film stars Michael Sheen, Shane Brolly, and Bill Nighy.


title: Underworld (2003 film)

text: An international co-production between companies from the United Kingdom, Germany, Hungary, and the United States, the film was released on September 19, 2003. Upon its release, the film received generally negative reviews from critics, but a smaller number of reviewers praised elements such as the film's stylish Gothic visuals, the "icy English composure" in Kate Beckinsale's performance, and the extensively worked-out vampire–werewolf mythology that serves as the film's backstory. A surprise hit, the film grossed $95 million against a production budget of $22 million. The film was followed by "", released three years later, and by three other films.


title: Underworld (2003 film)

text: For generations, a secret war has raged between vampires and Lycans, an ancient species of werewolf. The vampires gain the upper hand when Lycan leader Lucian seemingly dies at the hands of vampire Kraven, who becomes the second-in-command to the vampires' leading elders. Selene, a member of an elite group of vampire assassins known as "Death Dealers", continues to pursue the extermination of the Lycans despite other vampires no longer believing them to be a threat.


title: Underworld (2003 film)

text: During a clash with the Lycans, Selene discovers that they are looking for Michael Corvin, a seemingly ordinary medical student. Ignoring Kraven’s insistence to ignore the situation, Selene privately investigates Michael. After approaching him, the pair find themselves pursued by a group of Lycans led by Lucian, who is still alive and manages to bite Michael during their escape. Since Kraven was the only witness to Lucian's supposed death, Selene comes to suspect that he lied about killing him and may be working with the Lycans.


title: Underworld (2003 film)

text: After hiding Michael at a safe house, Selene returns to her coven's mansion and prematurely awakens Viktor, a hibernating elder vampire. Furious, Viktor refuses to believe Selene's warnings about Kraven's treachery, and reminds her that his fellow elder Marcus was supposed to be awakened before him. While awaiting Kraven's judgment for defying him, Selene binds Michael, fearing that the Lycans' bite will transform him into a werewolf when the full moon rises. As the two of them bond, she gradually tells him more about her past, revealing that Viktor adopted her and turned her into a vampire after her family's death at the hands of Lycans, leading to vengeful campaign against them. Selene later manages to capture and abduct the Lycan scientist Singe, while the Lycans manage to capture Michael. While held captive in the Lycans' lair, Michael soon learns that Lucian was once in love with Viktor's daughter Sonja, and that Viktor murdered her after he discovered their forbidden affair. Lucian claims that Lycans were once slaves of vampires, and the war began when they rose up against them and fought for their freedom.


title: Underworld (2003 film)

text: At the vampires' mansion, a captive Singe reveals that Selene was telling the truth about Kraven's betrayal, and he reveals why the Lycans want Michael: vampires and Lycans actually have a common ancestor, and Michael is a direct descendant of that ancestor. As an heir to the legendary "Corvinus" bloodline, he carries a unique genetic strain that could allow him to become a vampire-werewolf hybrid, which Singe predicts will lack the weaknesses of both species. An angered Victor then kills Singe and mobilizes the Death Dealers to raid the Lycan’s lair to kill the remaining Lycans, including Michael. Meanwhile, vampire elder Amelia—the ruler of the coven—is later ambushed and killed by Lycans while traveling to the mansion to awaken Marcus, having tracked her with the assistant of Kraven.


title: Underworld (2003 film)

text: In the ensuing showdown between vampires and Lycans, Selene breaks into the Lycans' lair to rescue Michael, Kraven and Lucian turn on each other, tells Selene that Viktor was the one who really murdered her family and who only spared and mentored her due to being reminded of his daughter. Selene is forced to bite a fatally injured Michael - believing that her bite will make him an immortal vampire-werewolf hybrid - while Kraven shoots Lucian, killing him.


title: Underworld (2003 film)

text: When Viktor arrives at the Lycans' lair in the aftermath of the battle, he admits to murdering Selene's parents and killing his daughter. He also insists that he killed Sonja for the good of his people and reveals she was pregnant with Lucian's child, an abomination in the eyes of the two species. Lastly, he claims that he made Selene immortal out of love for her. Viktor proceeds to fight the hybrid Michael. At first, Viktor is overwhelmed by Michael’s strength. But he eventually gets the upper hand and attempts to strangle him. Selene rouses from her disorientation and kills Viktor with his sword. Now enemies of both the vampires and the Lycans, Selene and Michael flee the Lycans' lair together.


title: Underworld (2003 film)

text: Back at the vampires' mansion, Marcus—now the sole surviving vampire elder—awakens after Singe's blood seeps into his sarcophagus.