title: Catskill Mountains

text: The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas close to or within the borders of the Catskill Park, a forest preserve protected from many forms of development under New York state law.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: Geologically, the Catskills are a mature dissected plateau, a flat region subsequently uplifted and eroded into sharp relief by watercourses. The Catskills form the northeastern end of the Allegheny Plateau (also known as the Appalachian Plateau).


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The Catskills were named by early Dutch settlers. They are well known in American society as the setting for films and works of art, including many 19th-century Hudson River School paintings, as well as for being a favored destination for vacationers from New York City in the mid-20th century. The region's many large resorts gave many young stand-up comedians an opportunity to hone their craft. Since the late 19th century, the Catskills have been a haven for artists, musicians and writers, especially in and around the towns of Woodstock and Phoenicia.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: Nicolaes Visscher I's 1656 map of New Netherland located the ' at the mouth of Catskill Creek. The region to the south is identified as ' (High Lands of the Esopus), a reference to a local band of northern Lenape Native Americans who inhabited the banks of the Hudson and hunted in the highlands along the Esopus Creek.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: While the meaning of the name ("cat creek ["kill"]" in Dutch) and the namer (early Dutch explorers) are settled matters, how and why the area is named "Catskills" is a mystery. Mountain lions (catamounts) were known to have been in the area when the Dutch arrived in the 17th century and may have been a reason for the name.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The confusion over the origins of the name led over the years to variant spellings such as "Kaatskill" and "Kaaterskill", both of which are also still used: the former in the regional magazine "Kaatskill Life", the latter as the name of a mountain peak and a waterfall. The supposed Native American name for the range, "Onteora" ("land in the sky"), was actually created by a white man in the mid-19th century to drum up business for a resort. It, too, persists today as the name of a school district and as the name of a Boy Scout summer camp (Onteora Scout Reservation).


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The Catskill Mountains are approximately north-northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, starting west of the Hudson River. The Catskills occupy much of two counties (Greene and Ulster), and extend slightly into Delaware, Sullivan, and southwestern Schoharie counties.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: At the range's eastern end, the mountains begin dramatically with the Catskill Escarpment rising up suddenly from the Hudson Valley. The western boundary is far less certain, as the mountains gradually decline in height and grade into the rest of the Allegheny Plateau, but maps from the 18th and 19th centuries consistently mark the border of the Catskill Mountains as the East Branch of the Delaware River, which is consistent with the actual topographic relief. The Pocono Mountains, to the immediate southwest in Pennsylvania, are also a part of the Allegheny Plateau.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The Catskills contain more than 30 peaks above and parts of six important rivers. The Catskill Mountain 3500 Club is an organization whose members have climbed all the peaks in the Catskills over . The highest mountain, Slide Mountain in Ulster County, has an elevation of .


title: Catskill Mountains

text: According to the Köppen climate classification system, the Catskill Mountains have two climate zones. The vast majority of the Catskills have a warm summer humid continental climate ("Dfb") with some isolated locations in valleys with hot summer humid continental climate ("Dfa"). The plant hardiness zone on Slide Mountain at is 5a with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of . The plant hardiness zone in Margaretville at is 5b with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of .


title: Catskill Mountains

text: Although the Catskills are sometimes compared with the Adirondack Mountains farther north, the two mountain ranges are not geologically related, as the Adirondacks are a continuation of the Canadian Shield. Similarly, the Shawangunk Ridge, which forms the southeastern edge of the Catskills, is part of the geologically distinct Ridge-and-Valley province and is a continuation of the same ridge known as Kittatinny Mountain in New Jersey and Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The Catskill Mountains are more of a dissected plateau than a series of mountain ranges. The sediments that make up the rocks in the Catskills were deposited when the ancient Acadian Mountains in the east were rising and subsequently eroding. The sediments traveled westward and formed a great delta into the sea that was in the area at that time. The escarpment of the Catskill Mountains is near the former (landward) edge of this delta, as the sediments deposited in the northeastern areas along the escarpment were deposited above sea level by moving rivers, and the Acadian Mountains were located roughly where the Taconic Mountains are located today (though significantly larger). Finer sediment was deposited further westward, and thus the rocks change from gravel conglomerates to sandstone and shale. Further west, these fresh water deposits intermingle with shallow marine sandstone and shale until the end, in deeper water limestone.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The uplift and erosion of the Acadian Mountains was occurring during the Devonian and early Mississippian period (395 to 325 million years ago). Over that time, thousands of feet of these sediments built up, slowly moving the Devonian seashore further west. A meteor impact occurred in the shallow sea approximately 375 mya, creating a diameter crater. This crater eventually filled with sediments and became Panther Mountain through the process of uplift and erosion. By the middle of the Mississippian period, the uplift stopped, and the Acadian Mountains had been eroded so much that sediments no longer flowed across the Catskill Delta.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: Over time, the sediments were buried by more sediments from other areas, until the original Devonian and Mississippian sediments were deeply buried and slowly became solid rock. Then the entire area experienced uplift, which caused the sedimentary rocks to begin to erode. Today, those upper sedimentary rocks have been completely removed, exposing the Devonian and Mississippian rocks. Today's Catskills are a result of the continued erosion of these rocks, both by streams and, in the recent past, by glaciers.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: In successive ice ages, both valley and continental glaciers have widened the valleys and the notches of the Catskills and rounded the mountains. Grooves and scratches in exposed bedrock provide evidence of the great sheets of ice that once traversed the region. Even today the erosion of the mountains continues, with the region's rivers and streams deepening and widening the mountains' valleys and cloves.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: In the mid–20th century, summer resorts in the Catskills, nicknamed the Borscht Belt, were a major vacation destination for Jewish New Yorkers. At its peak of popularity, about 500 resorts operated in the region. Later changes in vacationing patterns have led most of those travelers elsewhere, although there are still some bungalow communities and summer camps in the region catering to Orthodox populations.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: Esopus Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River, starting at Winnisook Lake on Slide Mountain. It flows across Ulster County to the Hudson River at Saugerties. The Esopus is noted for making an almost 270-degree turn around Panther Mountain, following a buried impact crater rim. It is famous for tubing, a sport of rafting down a river in an inner tube. Many tubers begin their trip at Phoenicia, New York, and head down the creek towards the Ashokan Reservoir at Olive, New York.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The Ashokan Reservoir is part of the New York City water supply system, with fishing allowed under permit, but swimming and most other recreational uses are forbidden.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The Esopus Creek is famous for its fly fishing, although in recent years it has been plagued by invasive plants.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: Road and mountain bicycling are fairly popular in the range. Bicycle racing includes the Tour of the Catskills, a three-day road stage race held in Green and Ulster counties each summer, and the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Windham. Other cycling resources include the Catskill Scenic Trail, the Headwaters Trails in Stamford and the Roundtopia trail network (mapped by the Round Top Mountain Bike Association). Several ski centers provide downhill mountain bicycling in the warmer months.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: Within the range is the Catskill Park, comprising over . Catskill Park is part of New York's Forest Preserve. Not all the land is publicly owned; about 60% remains in private hands, but new sections are added frequently. Most of the park and the preserve are within Ulster County, with a significant portion in Greene County, and parts in Sullivan and Delaware counties as well. Many of the trails in public areas are maintained and updated by the New York–New Jersey Trail Conference and the Catskill Mountain 3500 Club. Devil's Path is one of the many trails open for hikers. Spots to camp in the Catskills include Bear Spring Mountain, Little Pond, Mongaup Pond, and North-South Lake.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: There are five main downhill ski and snowboard areas in the Catskills: Belleayre Mountain (run by the Olympic Regional Development Authority); Hunter Mountain (the first ski area to install snowmaking machines in New York); Windham Mountain; Holiday Mountain Ski and Fun in Monticello; and Plattekill Mountain in Roxbury.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: Joppenbergh Mountain, in Rosendale Village hosted its first ski jumping competition in 1937. Ski jumping was continued on the mountain until February 7, 1971, when the last competition was held.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The Catskill Mountains fire towers were constructed to facilitate forest fire prevention and control. Twenty-three fire towers were built in the Catskill Mountains between 1908 and 1950. The fire towers fell out of use by the 1970s as fire spotting from airplanes had become more effective and efficient, so the fire towers were decommissioned; the Hunter Mountain Fire Tower was the last to be taken out of service in 1990. All but six of the towers were dismantled. The five remaining towers have been renovated and opened to the public as observation posts with panoramic views and a sixth tower was opened at the Catskill Visitor Center in 2022. The current towers are:


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The Catskill Mountain House, built in 1824, was a hotel near Palenville, New York, in the Catskill Mountains overlooking the Hudson River Valley. In its prime at the turn of the century, visitors included United States Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Chester A. Arthur and Theodore Roosevelt.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: From 1872, the northern part of the Catskills were served by the Catskill Mountain Branch of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad which was absorbed into the New York Central railroad in 1932. Oneonta to Kingston passenger rail service continued until 1954. Part of the line still exists but now serves only freight.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The southern part of the Catskills was served by the New York, Ontario and Western Railway. Over the course of 1950, service on the NYO&W downscaled to summer only. In its last years it ran trains from Roscoe to Weehawken, New Jersey, via Liberty. It connected with the New York Central's West Shore Railroad at Cornwall. This service lasted until September 10, 1953.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The Delaware and Ulster Railroad is a heritage railroad, based in Arkville, New York, that still runs a scenic part of the track from Highmount to Hubbell Corners, New York, for tourist use. The Catskill Mountain Railroad is also a heritage railroad in the Catskills, operating from Kingston up to Highmount.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The Catskills are accessible by automobile from the east along Interstate 87/New York State Thruway, which runs north–south through the Hudson Valley. To the south and southwest, the Catskills are accessible by a variety of highways, including New York State Route 55, U.S. Route 44, U.S. Route 209, and New York State Route 17. Access to the western Catskills is provided by New York State Route 30; and the vaguely defined far-western edge of the region is variously considered to be New York State Route 10 or Interstate 88, though this boundary remains a matter of local preference. New York State Routes 28 and 23A cut east–west through the heart of the Catskills, serving many of the most popular outdoor tourist destinations. New York State Route 23 runs east–west across the Catskills' northern section.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The closest major airports to the Catskill region are Albany International Airport to the north and Stewart International Airport in Newburgh to the south. Smaller airports in the region include:


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The Hudson Valley Film Commission maintains a list of films set in the Hudson Valley/Catskills Region. Of them, more than three dozen films are set in the Catskills.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: Author/illustrator Jonathan Schork, born and raised in Olivebridge in the southern Catskills, acknowledges the area as the inspiration for two of his children's books: 2016's "The Love of Simon Fox", and 2018's "More Tales from the Enchanted Wood" (the latter the recipient of several prizes for children's literature).


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The town of Bethel, New York, located in the Catskills, was home to the famous Woodstock music festival that took place August 15–18, 1969. The event, wherein 32 music acts performed in front of over 500,000 concert-goers, was captured in the documentary movie "Woodstock" (1970). The site is now home to the world-renowned Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.


title: Catskill Mountains

text: The many hotels and vacation resorts located in the Catskills are notable in American cultural history for their role in the development of modern stand-up comedy. Comedians such as Rodney Dangerfield, Jackie Mason, Alan King, and Don Rickles all got their start performing in Catskill hotel venues colloquially referred to as the Borscht Belt.


title: Singapore dollar

text: The Singapore dollar (sign: S$; code: SGD) is the official currency of the Republic of Singapore. It is divided into 100 cents. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or S$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issues the banknotes and coins of the Singapore dollar.


title: Singapore dollar

text: As of 2019, the Singapore dollar is the 13th-most traded currency in the world by value. Apart from its use in Singapore, the Singapore dollar is also accepted as customary tender in Brunei according to the Currency Interchangeability Agreement between the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (Monetary Authority of Brunei Darussalam). Likewise, the Brunei dollar is also customarily accepted in Singapore.


title: Singapore dollar

text: The Spanish-American silver dollar brought over by the Manila galleons was in wide circulation in Asia and the Americas from the 16th to 19th centuries. From 1845 to 1939 the Straits Settlements (of which Singapore used to be part of) issued its local equivalent, the Straits dollar. This was replaced by the Malayan dollar, and, from 1953, the Malaya and British Borneo dollar, which were issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya and British Borneo.


title: Singapore dollar

text: Singapore continued to use the common currency upon joining Malaysia in 1963, but only two years after Singapore's expulsion and independence from Malaysia in 1965, the monetary union between Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei broke down.


title: Singapore dollar

text: Singapore established the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore, on 7 April 1967 and issued its first coins and notes. Nevertheless, the Singapore dollar was exchangeable at par with the Malaysian ringgit until 1973, and interchangeability with the Brunei dollar is still maintained.


title: Singapore dollar

text: Initially, the Singapore dollar was pegged to the pound sterling at a rate of two shillings and four pence to the dollar, or £1 = S$60/7 or S$8.57; in turn, £1 = US$2.80 from 1949 to 1967 so that US$1 = S$3.06. This peg to sterling was broken in 1967 when the pound was devalued to US$2.40 but the peg to the U.S. dollar of US$1 = S$3.06 was retained. This peg remained for a short time after the Nixon Shock of the early 1970s. As Singapore's economy grew and its trade links diversified to many other countries and regions, Singapore moved towards pegging its currency against a fixed and undisclosed trade-weighted basket of currencies from 1973 to 1985.


title: Singapore dollar

text: Before 1970, the various monetary functions associated with a central bank were performed by several government departments and agencies. As Singapore progressed, the demands of an increasingly complex banking and monetary environment necessitated streamlining the functions to facilitate the development of a more dynamic and coherent policy on monetary matters. Therefore, the Parliament of Singapore passed the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act in 1970, leading to the formation of MAS on 1 January 1971. The MAS Act gave the MAS the authority to regulate all elements of monetary, banking, and financial aspects of Singapore.


title: Singapore dollar

text: From 1985 onwards, Singapore adopted a more market-oriented exchange regime, classified as a Monitoring Band, in which the Singapore dollar is allowed to float (within an undisclosed bandwidth of a central parity) but closely monitored by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) against a concealed basket of currencies of Singapore's major trading partners and competitors. This, in theory, allows the Singaporean government to have more control over imported inflation and to ensure that Singapore's exports remain competitive.


title: Singapore dollar

text: On 1 October 2002, the Board of Commissioners of Currency Singapore (BCCS) merged with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which took over the responsibility of banknote issuance.


title: Singapore dollar

text: As of 2012, the total currency in circulation was S$57.278 billion. All issued Singapore currency in circulation (notes and coins) are fully backed by external assets in its Currency Fund to maintain public confidence. Such external assets consists of all or any of the following: (a) gold and silver in any form; (b) foreign exchange in the form of demand or time deposits; bank balances and money at call; Treasury Bills; notes or coins; (c) securities of or guaranteed by foreign governments or international financial institutions; (d) equities; (e) corporate bonds; (f) currency and financial futures; (g) any other asset which the Authority, with the approval of the President of Singapore, considers suitable for inclusion.


title: Singapore dollar

text: In 2017, the government, in the second reading of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (Amendment) Bill 2017, announced that the Currency Fund will be merged with other funds of the MAS, because the currency in circulation is effectively backed by the full financial strength and assets of MAS, which is much larger than the Currency Fund. As at 31 March 2017, MAS's assets (S$395 billion) were more than seven times larger than the assets of the Currency Fund (S$55 billion). The proposed amendment will merge the Currency Fund with the other funds of MAS and streamline MAS's operations. The Government has said that its support for the currency in circulation, as set out in the Currency Act, remains unchanged.


title: Singapore dollar

text: Singapore's foreign reserves officially stood at over US$288.2 billion, as of July 2022 according to the MAS.


title: Singapore dollar

text: In 1967, the first series of coins was introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents and 1 dollar. These coins depicted wildlife and other images relating to the island nation and were designed by Stuart Devlin, the same artist credited for the 1966 designs on Australia's decimal coin series. The sizes were the same as those used for the Malaysian ringgit and based directly off the old coinage of the former Malaya and British Borneo dollar. The 1-cent coin was bronze while the other denominations were copper-nickel. Later, in 1976, the 1-cent coin was changed to copper-clad steel. The production of the first series was phased out by 1985.


title: Singapore dollar

text: In 1985, the second series of coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents and 1 dollar. The reverse of these coins were designed by Christopher Ironside. The new series offered smaller coins depicting a floral theme. One-dollar banknotes were discontinued and gradually replaced with an aluminium-bronze coin. The 5-cent coin was also changed to aluminum-bronze while the 10, 20, and 50 cents remained copper-nickel. Limited numbers of commemorative bimetallic 5-dollar coins with scalloped edges were also periodically issued later during this series. This series is still in circulation. The 1 cent coin was taken out of circulation in 2004.


title: Singapore dollar

text: On 21 February 2013, the Monetary Authority of Singapore announced a new series of coins in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 cents and 1 dollar, which went into circulation on 25 June 2013, featuring Singapore's national icons and landmarks.


title: Singapore dollar

text: The coins are struck on a multi-ply plated-steel planchet used by the Royal Canadian Mint and comes with enhanced features to differentiate from fakes. The coins also feature new designs, the one-dollar, now a bi-metallic coin featuring the Merlion, the fifty cents coin featuring the Port of Singapore, the twenty-cent coin depicts Changi International Airport, the ten-cent coin featuring public housing and the five-cent coin featuring the Esplanade. The second and third series of Singaporean coins have medallic orientation.


title: Singapore dollar

text: The Orchid Series of currency notes is the earliest to be in for circulation in Singapore. Issued in the years 1967 to 1976, it has nine denominations: $1, $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, $500, $1,000, and $10,000.


title: Singapore dollar

text: Each note has an orchid design in the centre of the note's front, the orchid being the national flower of Singapore. A scene of Singapore is depicted on the back, which varies across denominations. Standard on each note, is the Coat of Arms, a lion head watermark, and the signature of the Minister for Finance and chairman of the board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore, on the front of the note. As an added security feature, all notes have at least one vertically embedded security thread, while the $10,000 note has two.


title: Singapore dollar

text: The Bird Series of currency notes is the second set of notes to be issued for circulation in Singapore. Issued in the years 1976 to 1984, it has nine denominations, the same number as in the Orchid Series, albeit the $25 note was replaced by the $20 note.


title: Singapore dollar

text: Each note features a bird on the left side of the note's front, a theme selected to represent a young Singapore "ever ready to take flight to greater heights". Standard on each note, is the Coat of Arms, a lion head watermark, and the signature of the Minister for Finance and chairman of the board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore, on the front of the note. As an added security feature, all notes have a vertically embedded security thread, while the $1,000 and $10,000 notes have two.


title: Singapore dollar

text: The Ship Series of currency notes is the third set of notes to be issued for circulation in Singapore. Issued in the years 1984 to 1999, it retains the number of denominations as was in the previous two series of notes, but switches the $20 note for the $2 one.


title: Singapore dollar

text: A maritime theme to reflect Singapore's maritime heritage was adopted, and progressively shows across the various denominations, the different kinds of ships which have plied Singapore's waters as the country developed. These vignettes are located on the front of the note. On the back, various scenes depicting Singapore's achievements are shown, as well as an orchid, to symbolise the country's national flower.


title: Singapore dollar

text: Standard on each note, is the Coat of Arms, a lion head watermark, and the signature of the Minister for Finance and chairman of the board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore, on the front of the note. As an added security feature, all notes have a vertically embedded security thread.


title: Singapore dollar

text: The current Portrait series was introduced in 1999, with the one- and 500-dollar denominations omitted. These notes feature the face of Yusof bin Ishak, the first president of the Republic of Singapore, on the obverse, and the reverse depicts a feature of civic virtue. There are both paper and polymer notes in circulation. The designs of the polymer notes are very similar to the corresponding paper note except for the slightly slippery feel and a small transparent window design in the corner of the banknote. Polymer notes are progressively replacing the paper banknotes in circulation. The notes also have Braille patterns at the top right-hand corner of the front design.


title: Singapore dollar

text: The S$10,000 and B$10,000 note are the world's most valuable banknotes (that are officially in circulation). As of August 2011, it is worth over seven times as much as the next most valuable, the 1,000-Swiss franc note. On 2 July 2014, the Monetary Authority of Singapore announced that it would stop printing $10,000 notes starting from 1 October 2014 to reduce the risk of money laundering, with all banks instructed to exchange the notes with MAS and not recirculate them. This is a trend in many countries like European Central Bank's discontinuation of the 500-euro banknote in 2016 and AMBD's announcement to stop the production and issuance of the B$10,000 (the largest banknote) in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. MAS would also stop producing the S$1,000 banknote as well from 1 January 2021 onwards, but banks would be allowed to recirculate existing notes with customers. The MAS said that the higher denomination notes (beyond $100) will continue to remain legal tender.


title: Singapore dollar

text: Commemorative banknotes are also released, usually in limited quantities. The first commemorative banknote was released on 24 July 1990 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Singapore's independence. Of the 5.1 million $50 polymer banknotes issued, 300,000 came with an overprint of the anniversary date "9 August 1990". This $50 note was the first commemorative note issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore (BCCS) and was also the first polymer banknote in the history of Singapore's currency. In addition, the $50 note was the first note designed in Singapore by a Singapore artist.


title: Singapore dollar

text: On 8 December 1999, to celebrate the coming 2000 millennium, three million $2 millennium notes were circulated. The note is similar to the $2 portrait series, except that the prefix of the serial number is replaced with a Millennium 2000 logo. These millennium notes are printed on paper as polymer notes were not introduced yet then.


title: Singapore dollar

text: On 27 June 2007, to commemorate 40 years of currency agreement with Brunei, a commemorative S$20 note was launched; the back is identical to the Bruneian $20 note launched simultaneously. A circulation version of the $20 note can be exchanged at banks in Singapore beginning 16 July 2007, limited to two pieces per transaction.


title: Singapore dollar

text: On 18 August 2015, to commemorate Singapore's 50 years of nation-building, the Monetary Authority of Singapore launched a set of six commemorative notes. These commemorative notes comprise five S$10 polymer notes and a S$50 note. The note design's draw inspiration from significant milestones and achievements in Singapore's history, the multiracialism that defines the nation and the values and aspirations that underpin Singapore's progress. The front of both the $50 and $10 notes feature a portrait of Yusof Ishak, Singapore's first president, as in the current Portrait series notes. The $50 note highlights Singapore's history, transformation and future. It shows the late Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, shouting "Merdeka!"—the rallying cry of Singapore's independence struggle. The note makes distinctive use of the colour gold, reflecting Singapore's Golden Jubilee. The five $10 notes have a common front design and varying back designs depicting the theme 'Vibrant Nation, Endearing Home'. Each note reflects a value or aspiration that defines the theme: 'Caring Community, Active Citizenry', 'Opportunities for All', 'Safe and Secure', 'Strong Families' and '...regardless of race, language or religion...'.


title: Singapore dollar

text: In 2017, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its Currency Interchangeability Agreement between Brunei and Singapore, both the Monetary Authority of Brunei Darussalam and the Monetary Authority of Singapore issued $50 polymer banknotes to commemorate that event.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu (born 29 March 1952) is a Nigerian accountant and politician who served as the Governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007 and Senator for Lagos West during the brief Third Republic. In June 2022, he was chosen as the All Progressives Congress nominee in the 2023 Nigerian presidential election.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: Tinubu spent his early life in southwestern Nigeria and later moved to United States where he studied Accounting at Chicago State University. He returned to Nigeria in the early 1980s and was employed by Mobil Nigeria as an accountant, before entering politics as a Lagos West senatorial candidate in 1992 under the banner of the Social Democratic Party. After dictator Sani Abacha dissolved the Senate in 1993, Tinubu became an activist campaigning for the return of democracy as a part of the National Democratic Coalition movement. Although he was forced into exile in 1994, Tinubu returned after Abacha's 1998 death triggered the beginning of the transition to the Fourth Republic.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: In the first post-transition Lagos State gubernatorial election, Tinubu won by a wide margin as a member of the Alliance for Democracy over the Peoples Democratic Party's Dapo Sarumi and the All People's Party's Nosirudeen Kekere-Ekun. Four years later, he won re-election to a second term over the PDP's Funsho Williams by a reduced margin. Tinubu's two terms were marked by attempts at modernizing the city of Lagos and his feuds with the PDP-controlled federal government. After leaving office in 2007, he since played a key role in the formation of the All Progressives Congress in 2013. Long and controversial, Tinubu's career has been plagued by accusations of corruption and questions about the veracity of his personal history.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: According to affidavits, Tinubu was born on 29 March 1952. His mother Abibatu Mogaji, was a trader that later became the Iyaloja of Lagos State. He attended St. John's Primary School, Aroloya, Lagos and Children's Home School in Ibadan. Tinubu then went to the United States in 1975, where he studied first at Richard J. Daley College in Chicago and then at Chicago State University. He graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: Disputes over his age, educational qualifications, and name emerged throughout his political career due to conflicting documents and statements from Tinubu himself. While there are unsubstantiated rumours that Tinubu was born with a different name to a different family in modern-day Osun State, the main controversy was sparked by discrepancies in certificates Tinubu submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission. Documents submitted ahead of running for governor in 1999 falsely stated that Tinubu attended Government College, Ibadan for secondary school and Chicago State University records had his birth year as 1954, not 1952; in response, Tinubu claimed Tokunbo Afikuyomi- who was then a senator- accidentally falsified the 1999 submission and the university had simply made an error. The controversy was reignited in 2022 when documentation submitted by Tinubu to INEC for the presidential election was released, revealing that he did not state the primary or secondary school he attended in contradiction with previous sworn forms and public statements.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: Tinubu worked for the American companies Arthur Andersen, Deloitte, Haskins, & Sells, and GTE Services Corporation. After returning to Nigeria in 1983, Tinubu joined Mobil Oil Nigeria, and later became an executive of the company.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: During his time in the United States, Tinubu was noted for his suspiciously high income before being investigated by federal authorities; eventually his assets were frozen in 1993 as a result of a court case asserting that the American government had "probable cause" to believe Tinubu's American bank accounts held the proceeds of heroin dealing. He would settle with the government and forfeit about $460,000 later that year. Court documents and later reporting on the case revealed that Tinubu had served as a bagman for two Chicago heroin dealers in the early 1990s.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: His political career began in 1992, when he joined the Social Democratic Party where he was a member of the Peoples Front faction led by Shehu Musa Yar'Adua and made up of other politicians such as Umaru Yar'Adua, Atiku Abubakar, Baba Gana Kingibe, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila, Magaji Abdullahi, Dapo Sarumi and Yomi Edu. He was elected to the Senate, representing the Lagos West constituency in the short-lived Nigerian Third Republic.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: After the results of the 12 June 1993 presidential elections were annulled, Tinubu became a founding member of the pro-democracy National Democratic Coalition, a group which mobilized support for the restoration of democracy and recognition of Moshood Abiola as winner of the 12 June election. Following the seizure of power as military head of state of General Sani Abacha, he went into exile in 1994 and returned to the country in 1998 after the death of the military dictator, which ushered in the transition to the Fourth Nigerian Republic.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: In the run-up to the 1999 elections, Bola Tinubu was a protégé of Alliance for Democracy (AD) leaders Abraham Adesanya and Ayo Adebanjo. He went on to win the AD primaries for the Lagos State governorship elections in defeating Funsho Williams and Wahab Dosunmu, a former Minister of Works and Housing. In January 1999, he stood for the position of Governor of Lagos State on the AD ticket and was elected governor.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: After he assumed office in May 1999, Tinubu provided multiple housing units in Lagos for the poor. During the eight-year period of his being in office, he made large investments in education in the state and also reduced the number of schools in the state by returning many schools to the already settled former owners. He also initiated new road construction, required to meet the needs of the fast-growing population of the state.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: Tinubu, alongside a new deputy governor, Femi Pedro, won re-election into office as governor in April 2003. All other states in the South West fell to the People's Democratic Party in those elections. He was involved in a struggle with the Olusegun Obasanjo-controlled federal government over whether Lagos State had the right to create new Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to meet the needs of its large population. The controversy led to the federal government seizing funds meant for local councils in the state. During the latter part of his term in office, he was engaged in continuous clashes with PDP powers such as Adeseye Ogunlewe, a former Lagos State senator who had become minister of works, and Bode George, the southwest chairman of the PDP.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: Relations between Tinubu and deputy governor Femi Pedro became increasingly tense after Pedro declared his intention to run for the gubernatorial elections. Pedro competed to become the AC candidate for governor in the 2007 elections, but withdrew his name on the eve of the party nomination. He defected to the Labour Party while still keeping his position as deputy governor. Tinubu's tenure as Lagos State Governor ended on 29 May 2007, when his successor Babatunde Fashola of the Action Congress took office.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: In April 2007, after the general elections, but before the governor-elect Babatunde Fashola had taken office, the Federal Government brought Tinubu before the Code of Conduct Bureau for trial over the alleged illegal operation of 16 separate foreign accounts.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: In January 2009, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission cleared Tinubu and governors James Ibori of Delta State and Obong Victor Attah of Akwa Ibom State of charges of conspiracy, money laundering, abuse of office and official corruption in relation to a sale of V-mobile network shares in 2004. In March 2009, there were reports that a plot had been identified to kill Tinubu. The Alliance for Democracy called on the Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, to conduct a thorough investigation. In September 2009, however, there were reports that the British Metropolitan Police were investigating a transaction in which the Lagos State government made an investment in Econet (now Airtel). Tinubu said the transaction was straightforward and profitable to the state, with no intermediaries involved. The Federal Government rejected a request by Britain to release evidence needed for further investigation and prosecution of the three Nigerian ex-governors in a London court.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: Tinubu has been widely perceived as the "Godfather of Lagos". His role in pulling the strings of the mega city-state was exposed in "The Lion of Bourdillon", a 2015 documentary film highlighting Tinubu's political and financial grip on the city-state. Tinubu filed a ₦150 billion libel suit against the producers, AIT, and the documentary stopped airing on 6 March 2015. Nonetheless, antecedents such as his overbearingness on successors such as in December 2009, when there were reports that Fashola and Tinubu had fallen out over the issue of Fashola's re-election in 2011, with Tinubu preferring the commissioner for environment, Muiz Banire. And a similar scuffle in 2015, over Fashola's successor pitting Tinubu against him who threw his full weight behind Akinwunmi Ambode, who later succeeded Fashola and was himself ousted from office by Tinubu replacing him with incumbent Babajide Sanwo-Olu.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: During the 2019 election, a bullion van was seen entering Tinubu's residence on Bourdillion Road in Ikoyi, with Tinubu claiming "I keep money anywhere I want".


title: Bola Tinubu

text: In 2006, Tinubu worked on convincing the erstwhile Vice President of Nigeria Atiku Abubakar to become the flagbearer of his party, the Action Congress. Atiku who was a member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) then had fallen out with his principal at that time Olusegun Obasanjo over his ambition to succeed the former as president. Tinubu offered Atiku the chance to cross carpet to his party, offering him the slot of his party's presidential candidacy with the condition that he, Tinubu must be Atiku's running mate. Atiku declined the proposition and instead chose a running mate from the South East in the person of Ben Obi. And although Atiku still went ahead to contest the election on Tinubu's platform in the forthcoming elections, the PDP still won in a landslide with Tinubu barking up the wrong tree.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: In 2009, following the landslide victory of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the April 2007 elections, Tinubu became involved in negotiations to bring together the fragmented opposition parties into a "mega-party" capable of challenging the then ruling PDP. In February 2013, Tinubu was among several politicians who created a "mega opposition" party with the merger of Nigeria's three biggest opposition parties – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the new PDP (nPDP), a faction of the then ruling People's Democratic Party – into the All Progressives Congress (APC).


title: Bola Tinubu

text: In 2014, Tinubu supported former military head of state General Muhammadu Buhari, leader of the CPC faction of the APC – who commanded widespread following in Northern Nigeria, and had previously contested in the 2003, 2007, and 2011 presidential elections as the CPC presidential candidate. Tinubu initially wanted to become Buhari's vice presidential candidate but later conceded for Yemi Osibanjo, his ally and former commissioner of justice. In 2015, Buhari rode the APC to victory, ending the sixteen year rule of the PDP, and marking the first time in the history of Nigeria that an incumbent president lost to an opposition candidate.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: Tinubu has gone on to play an important role in the Buhari administration, supporting government policies and holding onto the internal party reins, in lieu of his long-held rumored presidential aspiration. In 2019, he supported Buhari's re-election campaign defeating the PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar. In 2020, following an internal party crisis which led to the removal of Tinubu ally and party chairman Adams Oshiomole, it is believed the move was to scuttle Tinubu's presidential prospects ahead of 2023.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: On 10 January 2022, Tinubu announced his intention to run for the President of Nigeria to President Buhari, this was the formal form of announcement from him.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: On 8 June 2022, Tinubu won the presidential primary of the ruling All Progressive Congress scoring 1,271, to defeat Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Rotimi Amaechi who scored 235 and 316 respectively.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: Tinubu is a Muslim. He is married to Oluremi Tinubu, the current senator of the Lagos Central senatorial district. Tinubu's mother Abibatu Mogaji, died on 15 June 2013, at the age of 96. On 31 October 2017, his son Jide Tinubu had a heart attack while in London and was later confirmed dead.


title: Bola Tinubu

text: Tinubu holds both the chieftaincies of the Asiwaju of Lagos and the Jagaban of Borgu kingdom in Niger State, Nigeria.


title: Systems engineering

text: Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their life cycles. At its core, systems engineering utilizes systems thinking principles to organize this body of knowledge. The individual outcome of such efforts, an engineered system, can be defined as a combination of components that work in synergy to collectively perform a useful function.


title: Systems engineering

text: Issues such as requirements engineering, reliability, logistics, coordination of different teams, testing and evaluation, maintainability and many other disciplines necessary for successful system design, development, implementation, and ultimate decommission become more difficult when dealing with large or complex projects. Systems engineering deals with work-processes, optimization methods, and risk management tools in such projects. It overlaps technical and human-centered disciplines such as industrial engineering, production systems engineering, process systems engineering, mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, production engineering, control engineering, software engineering, electrical engineering, cybernetics, aerospace engineering, organizational studies, civil engineering and project management. Systems engineering ensures that all likely aspects of a project or system are considered and integrated into a whole.


title: Systems engineering

text: The systems engineering process is a discovery process that is quite unlike a manufacturing process. A manufacturing process is focused on repetitive activities that achieve high quality outputs with minimum cost and time. The systems engineering process must begin by discovering the real problems that need to be resolved, and identifying the most probable or highest impact failures that can occur – systems engineering involves finding solutions to these problems.


title: Systems engineering

text: The term "systems engineering" can be traced back to Bell Telephone Laboratories in the 1940s. The need to identify and manipulate the properties of a system as a whole, which in complex engineering projects may greatly differ from the sum of the parts' properties, motivated various industries, especially those developing systems for the U.S. military, to apply the discipline.


title: Systems engineering

text: When it was no longer possible to rely on design evolution to improve upon a system and the existing tools were not sufficient to meet growing demands, new methods began to be developed that addressed the complexity directly. The continuing evolution of systems engineering comprises the development and identification of new methods and modeling techniques. These methods aid in a better comprehension of the design and developmental control of engineering systems as they grow more complex. Popular tools that are often used in the systems engineering context were developed during these times, including USL, UML, QFD, and IDEF.


title: Systems engineering

text: In 1990, a professional society for systems engineering, the "National Council on Systems Engineering" (NCOSE), was founded by representatives from a number of U.S. corporations and organizations. NCOSE was created to address the need for improvements in systems engineering practices and education. As a result of growing involvement from systems engineers outside of the U.S., the name of the organization was changed to the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) in 1995. Schools in several countries offer graduate programs in systems engineering, and continuing education options are also available for practicing engineers.


title: Systems engineering

text: Systems engineering signifies only an approach and, more recently, a discipline in engineering. The aim of education in systems engineering is to formalize various approaches simply and in doing so, identify new methods and research opportunities similar to that which occurs in other fields of engineering. As an approach, systems engineering is holistic and interdisciplinary in flavour.


title: Systems engineering

text: The traditional scope of engineering embraces the conception, design, development, production and operation of physical systems. Systems engineering, as originally conceived, falls within this scope. "Systems engineering", in this sense of the term, refers to the building of engineering concepts.


title: Systems engineering

text: The use of the term "systems engineer" has evolved over time to embrace a wider, more holistic concept of "systems" and of engineering processes. This evolution of the definition has been a subject of ongoing controversy, and the term continues to apply to both the narrower and broader scope.


title: Systems engineering

text: Traditional systems engineering was seen as a branch of engineering in the classical sense, that is, as applied only to physical systems, such as spacecraft and aircraft. More recently, systems engineering has evolved to take on a broader meaning especially when humans were seen as an essential component of a system. Peter Checkland, for example, captures the broader meaning of systems engineering by stating that 'engineering' "can be read in its general sense; you can engineer a meeting or a political agreement."


title: Systems engineering

text: Consistent with the broader scope of systems engineering, the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK) has defined three types of systems engineering: (1) Product Systems Engineering (PSE) is the traditional systems engineering focused on the design of physical systems consisting of hardware and software. (2) Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) pertains to the view of enterprises, that is, organizations or combinations of organizations, as systems. (3) Service Systems Engineering (SSE) has to do with the engineering of service systems. Checkland defines a service system as a system which is conceived as serving another system. Most civil infrastructure systems are service systems.


title: Systems engineering

text: Systems engineering focuses on analyzing and eliciting customer needs and required functionality early in the development cycle, documenting requirements, then proceeding with design synthesis and system validation while considering the complete problem, the system lifecycle. This includes fully understanding all of the stakeholders involved. Oliver et al. claim that the systems engineering process can be decomposed into


title: Systems engineering

text: Within Oliver's model, the goal of the Management Process is to organize the technical effort in the lifecycle, while the Technical Process includes "assessing available information", "defining effectiveness measures", to "create a behavior model", "create a structure model", "perform trade-off analysis", and "create sequential build & test plan".


title: Systems engineering

text: Depending on their application, although there are several models that are used in the industry, all of them aim to identify the relation between the various stages mentioned above and incorporate feedback. Examples of such models include the Waterfall model and the VEE model (also called the V model).


title: Systems engineering

text: System development often requires contribution from diverse technical disciplines. By providing a systems (holistic) view of the development effort, systems engineering helps mold all the technical contributors into a unified team effort, forming a structured development process that proceeds from concept to production to operation and, in some cases, to termination and disposal. In an acquisition, the holistic integrative discipline combines contributions and balances tradeoffs among cost, schedule, and performance while maintaining an acceptable level of risk covering the entire life cycle of the item.


title: Systems engineering

text: This perspective is often replicated in educational programs, in that systems engineering courses are taught by faculty from other engineering departments, which helps create an interdisciplinary environment.


title: Systems engineering

text: The need for systems engineering arose with the increase in complexity of systems and projects, in turn exponentially increasing the possibility of component friction, and therefore the unreliability of the design. When speaking in this context, complexity incorporates not only engineering systems, but also the logical human organization of data. At the same time, a system can become more complex due to an increase in size as well as with an increase in the amount of data, variables, or the number of fields that are involved in the design. The International Space Station is an example of such a system.


title: Systems engineering

text: The development of smarter control algorithms, microprocessor design, and analysis of environmental systems also come within the purview of systems engineering. Systems engineering encourages the use of tools and methods to better comprehend and manage complexity in systems. Some examples of these tools can be seen here:


title: Systems engineering

text: Taking an interdisciplinary approach to engineering systems is inherently complex since the behavior of and interaction among system components is not always immediately well defined or understood. Defining and characterizing such systems and subsystems and the interactions among them is one of the goals of systems engineering. In doing so, the gap that exists between informal requirements from users, operators, marketing organizations, and technical specifications is successfully bridged.


title: Systems engineering

text: One way to understand the motivation behind systems engineering is to see it as a method, or practice, to identify and improve common rules that exist within a wide variety of systems. Keeping this in mind, the principles of systems engineering – holism, emergent behavior, boundary, et al. – can be applied to any system, complex or otherwise, provided systems thinking is employed at all levels. Besides defense and aerospace, many information and technology based companies, software development firms, and industries in the field of electronics & communications require systems engineers as part of their team.


title: Systems engineering

text: An analysis by the INCOSE Systems Engineering center of excellence (SECOE) indicates that optimal effort spent on systems engineering is about 15–20% of the total project effort. At the same time, studies have shown that systems engineering essentially leads to reduction in costs among other benefits. However, no quantitative survey at a larger scale encompassing a wide variety of industries has been conducted until recently. Such studies are underway to determine the effectiveness and quantify the benefits of systems engineering.


title: Systems engineering

text: Systems engineering encourages the use of modeling and simulation to validate assumptions or theories on systems and the interactions within them.


title: Systems engineering

text: Use of methods that allow early detection of possible failures, in safety engineering, are integrated into the design process. At the same time, decisions made at the beginning of a project whose consequences are not clearly understood can have enormous implications later in the life of a system, and it is the task of the modern systems engineer to explore these issues and make critical decisions. No method guarantees today's decisions will still be valid when a system goes into service years or decades after first conceived. However, there are techniques that support the process of systems engineering. Examples include soft systems methodology, Jay Wright Forrester's System dynamics method, and the Unified Modeling Language (UML)—all currently being explored, evaluated, and developed to support the engineering decision process.


title: Systems engineering

text: Education in systems engineering is often seen as an extension to the regular engineering courses, reflecting the industry attitude that engineering students need a foundational background in one of the traditional engineering disciplines (e.g., aerospace engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, chemical engineering)—plus practical, real-world experience to be effective as systems engineers. Undergraduate university programs explicitly in systems engineering are growing in number but remain uncommon, the degrees including such material most often presented as a BS in Industrial Engineering. Typically programs (either by themselves or in combination with interdisciplinary study) are offered beginning at the graduate level in both academic and professional tracks, resulting in the grant of either a MS/MEng or Ph.D./EngD degree.


title: Systems engineering

text: INCOSE, in collaboration with the Systems Engineering Research Center at Stevens Institute of Technology maintains a regularly updated directory of worldwide academic programs at suitably accredited institutions. As of 2017, it lists over 140 universities in North America offering more than 400 undergraduate and graduate programs in systems engineering. Widespread institutional acknowledgment of the field as a distinct subdiscipline is quite recent; the 2009 edition of the same publication reported the number of such schools and programs at only 80 and 165, respectively.


title: Systems engineering

text: Both of these patterns strive to educate the systems engineer who is able to oversee interdisciplinary projects with the depth required of a core-engineer.


title: Systems engineering

text: Systems engineering tools are strategies, procedures, and techniques that aid in performing systems engineering on a project or product. The purpose of these tools vary from database management, graphical browsing, simulation, and reasoning, to document production, neutral import/export and more.


title: Systems engineering

text: There are many definitions of what a system is in the field of systems engineering. Below are a few authoritative definitions:


title: Systems engineering

text: Systems engineering processes encompass all creative, manual and technical activities necessary to define the product and which need to be carried out to convert a system definition to a sufficiently detailed system design specification for product manufacture and deployment. Design and development of a system can be divided into four stages, each with different definitions:


title: Systems engineering

text: Depending on their application, tools are used for various stages of the systems engineering process:


title: Systems engineering

text: Together, these definitions are broad enough to encompass physical engineering models used in the verification of a system design, as well as schematic models like a functional flow block diagram and mathematical (i.e., quantitative) models used in the trade study process. This section focuses on the last.


title: Systems engineering

text: The main reason for using mathematical models and diagrams in trade studies is to provide estimates of system effectiveness, performance or technical attributes, and cost from a set of known or estimable quantities. Typically, a collection of separate models is needed to provide all of these outcome variables. The heart of any mathematical model is a set of meaningful quantitative relationships among its inputs and outputs. These relationships can be as simple as adding up constituent quantities to obtain a total, or as complex as a set of differential equations describing the trajectory of a spacecraft in a gravitational field. Ideally, the relationships express causality, not just correlation. Furthermore, key to successful systems engineering activities are also the methods with which these models are efficiently and effectively managed and used to simulate the systems. However, diverse domains often present recurring problems of modeling and simulation for systems engineering, and new advancements are aiming to cross-fertilize methods among distinct scientific and engineering communities, under the title of 'Modeling & Simulation-based Systems Engineering'.


title: Systems engineering

text: Initially, when the primary purpose of a systems engineer is to comprehend a complex problem, graphic representations of a system are used to communicate a system's functional and data requirements. Common graphical representations include:


title: Systems engineering

text: A graphical representation relates the various subsystems or parts of a system through functions, data, or interfaces. Any or each of the above methods are used in an industry based on its requirements. For instance, the N2 chart may be used where interfaces between systems is important. Part of the design phase is to create structural and behavioral models of the system.


title: Systems engineering

text: Once the requirements are understood, it is now the responsibility of a systems engineer to refine them, and to determine, along with other engineers, the best technology for a job. At this point starting with a trade study, systems engineering encourages the use of weighted choices to determine the best option. A decision matrix, or Pugh method, is one way (QFD is another) to make this choice while considering all criteria that are important. The trade study in turn informs the design, which again affects graphic representations of the system (without changing the requirements). In an SE process, this stage represents the iterative step that is carried out until a feasible solution is found. A decision matrix is often populated using techniques such as statistical analysis, reliability analysis, system dynamics (feedback control), and optimization methods.


title: Systems engineering

text: Systems Modeling Language (SysML), a modeling language used for systems engineering applications, supports the specification, analysis, design, verification and validation of a broad range of complex systems.


title: Systems engineering

text: Lifecycle Modeling Language (LML), is an open-standard modeling language designed for systems engineering that supports the full lifecycle: conceptual, utilization, support and retirement stages.


title: Systems engineering

text: Many related fields may be considered tightly coupled to systems engineering. The following areas have contributed to the development of systems engineering as a distinct entity:


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: The Sukhoi Su-33 (-33; NATO reporting name: "Flanker-D") is an all-weather carrier-based twin-engine air superiority fighter designed by Sukhoi and manufactured by Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association, derived from the Su-27 and initially known as the Su-27K. Compared with the Su-27, the Su-33 has a strengthened undercarriage and structure, folding wings and stabilators, all for carrier operations. The Su-33 has canards, and its wings are larger than the Su-27 for a slower stall speed. The Su-33 has upgraded engines and a twin nose wheel, and is air refuelable.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: First used in operations in 1995 aboard the aircraft carrier , the fighter officially entered service in August 1998, by which time the designation "Su-33" was used. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union and the subsequent downsizing of the Russian Navy, only 24 aircraft were produced. Attempted sales to China and India fell through. With plans to retire the Su-33 once they reach the end of their service life, the Russian Navy ordered the MiG-29K as a replacement in 2009.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: During the 1970s, the Yakovlev Yak-38, then the Soviet Navy's only operational carrier-based fixed-wing combat aircraft, was found to be unable to undertake its role due to limited range and payload, which severely hampered the capability of the Soviet Navy's Project 1143 carriers. It was decided to develop a bigger and more potent carrier capable of operating STOL aircraft. During the assessment period, a number of aircraft carriers were studied; the Project 1160 carrier would have been able to operate the MiG-23s and Su-24s, but was abandoned due to budget constraints. Design efforts were then concentrated on the Project 1153 carrier, which would have accommodated the Su-25s and the proposed MiG-23Ks and Su-27Ks. Sufficient funding was not secured, and the Navy looked at the possibility of a fifth, and larger, Project 1143 carrier, modified to allow for Yak-141, MiG-29K and Su-27K operations.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: To prepare for the operations of the Su-27K and the rival MiG-29K on-board the new carrier, work proceeded on the development of the steam catapult, arresting gear, optical and radio landing systems. The pilots were trained at a new establishment in Crimea, named NITKA, for Aviation Research and Training Complex. In 1981, the Soviet government ordered the abandonment of the catapult system as part of an overall downsize of Project 1143.5 carriers, which also included cancelling the fifth Project 1143 carrier and "Varyag". A takeoff ramp was installed at the complex, where takeoffs would be executed to ensure that the Su-27Ks and MiG-29Ks would be able to operate from carriers. Both Sukhoi and Mikoyan modified their prototypes to validate the takeoff ramp. Three Sukhoi T10s (−3, −24 and −25), along with an Su-27UB, were used for takeoffs from the simulated ramp. The first of these tests were undertaken by Nikolai Sadovnikov on 28 August 1982. Flight tests indicated the need for a change in ramp design, and it was modified to a ski-jump profile.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: Conceptual designs of the Su-27K commenced in 1978. On 18 April 1984, the Soviet government instructed Sukhoi to develop an air defence fighter; Mikoyan was ordered to build a lighter multirole fighter. Full-scale design of the Su-27K soon started as the "T-10K" under the guidance of Konstantin Marbyshev. Nikolai Sadovnikov was appointed the design bureau's Chief Test Pilot for the programme. By November 1984, conceptual design had passed its critical design review, with the detailed design finalised in 1986. The two prototypes were constructed in conjunction with KnAAPO in 1986–1987.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: The first Su-27K prototype, piloted by Viktor Pugachyov, made its maiden flight on 17 August 1987 at the NITKA facility; the second followed on 22 December. Flight tests continued at NITKA, where Su-27Ks and MiG-29Ks demonstrated and validated the feasibility of ski-jump operations. The pilots also practised no-flare landings before making an actual landing on a carrier deck. It was another two years before "Tbilisi", subsequently renamed "Admiral Kuznetsov", left the shipyard.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: Viktor Pugachyov, piloting the second Su-27K, became the first Russian to conventionally land aboard an aircraft carrier on 1 November 1989. It was found that the carrier's jet blast deflectors were too close to the engine nozzles when raised at an angle of 60°; thus an improvised solution held the deflectors at 45°. However, when the aircraft was in front of it for longer than the maximum six seconds, the shield's water pipes exploded. The pilot, Pugachyov, reduced engine throttle, accidentally causing the detents (blocks used to restrain aircraft from accelerating) to retract and the fighter to move forwards. The aircraft was quickly stopped; Pugachyov later took off without the use of blast deflectors or detents. Since then, a Kamov Ka-27PS search-and-rescue helicopter was flown close to the carrier in case of an accident.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: During the following three-week period, 227 sorties were amassed, along with 35 deck landings. Flight testing continued afterwards, and on 26 September 1991, naval pilots began testing the Su-27K; by 1994, it had successfully passed the State Acceptance Trials. During 1990–1991, seven production aircraft were rolled out.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: The first of two known versions of the Su-33, the twin-seat Su-33UB, made its first flight in April 1999. The aircraft, piloted by Viktor Pugachyov and Sergey Melnikov, flew for 40 minutes near Ramenskoye Airport. The Su-33UB (Initially named as Su-27KUB, ""Korabelny Uchebno-Boevo"", or "carrier combat trainer") was planned to be a trainer, but with the potential to fill other roles. Notable improvements over the Su-33 included a revised forward fuselage and leading edge slats, bigger wings and stabilators.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: In 2010, Sukhoi developed an upgraded version of the Su-33; flight trials began in October 2010. This modernized Su-33 was to compete with a potential Chinese indigenous version of the original Su-33, the Shenyang J-15, and to encourage orders from the Russian Navy. Major upgrades to the aircraft included more powerful (132 kN, 29,800 lbf) AL-31-F-M1 engines and a larger weapons carriage; upgrades to the radar and weapons were not possible at the time due to funding constraints. According to military author Richard Fisher, it has been speculated that further modifications to a new production batch would include a phased-array radar, thrust-vectoring nozzles, and long-range anti-ship missiles.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: In September 2016, it was announced the Su-33 will be outfitted with new sighting and computing system SVP-24 from the Russian company Gefest & T, that will allow the aircraft to use unguided bombs with a similar precision as guided ones, giving it an ability of a strike fighter. The SVP-24 takes into account data such as current plane's location together with flight parameters, target data and environmental parameters and determines the optimal trajectory for unguided ammunition. It is believed, the installation of modern targeting systems will increase the capability of the Su-33 fighters close to Su-30SM level.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: The second stage of the modernization is to include installation of more powerful engines and detection systems, according to Naval Aviation Chief Major-General Igor Kozhin.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: To adapt the original Su-27 for naval operations, Sukhoi first incorporated a reinforced structure and undercarriage to withstand the great stress experienced upon landing, particularly quick descents and non-flare landings (landings where the aircraft does not 'float' and slow its descent rate just prior to touchdown). The leading edge slats, flaperons and other control surfaces are enlarged to provide increased lift and manoeuvrability at low speeds, although the wingspan remains unchanged. The wings feature double-slotted flaps and outboard drooping ailerons; in total, the refinements enlarge the wing area by 10–12%. The wings and stabilators are modified for folding to maximise the number of aircraft the carrier can accommodate and to allow ease of movement on deck. The aircraft is outfitted with more powerful turbofan engines to increase thrust-to-weight ratio, as well as an in-flight refuelling probe. The Su-33 sports canards that shorten the take-off distance and improve manoeuvrability, but have required reshaping of the leading edge root extensions (LERX). The rear radome is shortened and reshaped to prevent its striking the deck during high-Alpha (angle of attack) landings.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: Compared with the rival MiG-29K, the Su-33's maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) is 50% higher; fuel capacity is more than double, allowing it to fly 80% further at altitude (or 33% at sea level). The MiG-29K can spend as much time as the Su-33 on station by using external fuel tanks, but this limits its ordnance capacity. The Su-33 can fly at speeds as low as , in comparison the MiG-29K needs to maintain a minimum of for effective control. However, the MiG-29K carries more air-to-ground munitions than the Su-33. The Su-33 is more expensive and physically larger than the MiG-29K, limiting the numbers able to be deployed on an aircraft carrier.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: The Su-33 carries guided missiles such as the R-73 (four) and R-27E (six) on twelve hardpoints, supplemented by the 150-round 30 mm GSh-30-1. It can carry an assortment of unguided rockets, bombs and cluster bombs for secondary air-to-ground missions. The aircraft can be used in both night and day operations at sea. The radar used, "Slot Back", has been speculated to have poor multi-target tracking, making the Su-33 reliant on other radar platforms and airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft like the Kamov Ka-31 early-warning helicopter. The R-27EM missiles have the capability to intercept anti-ship missiles. The infra-red search and track (IRST) system is placed to provide better downward visibility.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: With the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Russian Navy was dramatically downsized, with many shipbuilding programmes stopped. If the "Varyag", "Oryol" and had been commissioned, a total of 72 production airframes would have been built; the early-airborne warning and MiG-29K would also have proceeded, instead of being abandoned. Only 24 examples were built at the time "Varyag" was sold to China.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: The Su-27K was introduced in the mid-1990s and from December 1995 to March 1996, "Admiral Kuznetsov" set sail in the Mediterranean Sea, carrying two Su-25UTGs, nine Ka-27s, and 13 Su-27Ks. The aircraft officially entered service on 31 August 1998 under new designation "Su-33". The 279th independent Shipborne Assault Aviation Regiment based at Severomorsk-3 air base became the first unit operating the variant.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: In 2009, it was announced the Russian Navy will procure 24 MiG-29Ks to replace its fleet of about 19 Su-33s in service, with deliveries to be completed by 2015. However, in 2015, Chief of the Naval Aviation General Major Igor Kozhin, announced that a second fighter regiment would be formed to augment the current force, with the MiG-29Ks to be used by the new unit. The existing Su-33s were to be refurbished for further use. In September 2016, at least six Su-33s were upgraded with the SVP-24 targeting system as the aircraft were preparing for their combat deployment to Syria.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: In 2017, the United Engine Corporation announced it has resumed the production of upgraded AL-31F series 3 engines for Su-33 fighters. The first batch of engines was delivered to the customer the same year.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: On 15 November 2016, in the course of Russia's large-scale military operations against terrorist groups in Syria, Su-33s operated from the "Admiral Kuznetsov" aircraft carrier in the type's first combat employment, striking ISIL and Al-Nusra terrorist facilities in Syria's Idlib and Homs provinces with 500 kg precision ammunition. The main targets were ammunition warehouses, gathering and training centers and weapon production plants. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, at least 30 militants including three field commanders were killed due to the strikes.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: On 5 December 2016, a Su-33 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after the arrestor cable broke up during the aircraft's second landing attempt on board the aircraft carrier. The pilot managed to eject and survived without injuries.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: All the aircraft deployed in the Mediterranean returned to the Severomorsk-3 air base on 3 February 2017.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: Internationally, the People’s Republic of China was identified as a possible export customer. Russia's state weapons exporter, Rosoboronexport, was previously negotiating an order of 50 aircraft totalling US$2.5 billion. China would have initially acquired two aircraft worth $100 million for testing and then have further options to acquire an additional 12–48 aircraft. The fighters were intended to be used with the fledgling Chinese aircraft carrier programme, with the former Soviet carrier "Varyag" as the centrepiece.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: At the sixth Zhuhai Airshow in late 2006, Lieutenant General Aleksander Denisov publicly confirmed at a news conference that China had approached Russia for the possible purchase of Su-33s, and negotiations were to start in 2007. On 1 November 2006, the Xinhua News Agency published the information on its military website that China planned to introduce the Su-33. China had previously obtained a manufacturing license for Su-27 production.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: Sukhoi is working on a more advanced version, the Su-33K, a development to integrate the advanced technologies of the Su-35 fighters into the older Su-33 airframe. However, worries over other Chinese intentions emerged when it was reported that China had acquired one of the T-10Ks, a Su-33 prototype, from Ukraine, potentially to study and reverse engineer a domestic version. Various aircraft are alleged to have originated partially from the Su-33, such as the Shenyang J-15. Photos of Shenyang aircraft designers posing in front of a T-10K carrier based fighter prototype strongly suggest that the J-15 is directly related to T-10K. Negotiations stagnated as the Shenyang Aircraft company sought to reduce Russian content in the aircraft, while Sukhoi wanted to ensure a level of income from future upgrades and modifications made to the J-11.


title: Sukhoi Su-33

text: India was also viewed as another potential operator of the Su-33. The Indian Navy planned to acquire the Su-33 for its aircraft carrier, , the refurbished Soviet , which was sold to India in 2004. In the end, the rival MiG-29K was opted for, because of the Su-33's outdated avionics. The size of the Su-33 reportedly led to concerns over potential difficulties in operating it off the Indian carriers, a constraint not shared by the smaller MiG-29K.


title: August Alsina

text: August Anthony Alsina Jr. (born September 3, 1992) is an American singer from New Orleans, Louisiana, formerly signed to Def Jam Recordings. He released his first mixtape "The Product" in 2012, followed by "The Product 2" and his debut extended play (EP) "" in 2013, the latter released under The-Dream's Radio Killa Records and Def Jam Recordings. Alsina then his debut studio album "Testimony" in 2014, after garnering success from the Platinum-selling singles "I Luv This Shit" (featuring Trinidad James) and "No Love" (featuring Nicki Minaj). The album was followed up by "This Thing Called Life" in 2015. After leaving Def Jam and a long hiatus, he released the EP "Forever and a Day" in 2019. In 2020, Alsina released his third album, ""—along with a five-part documentary series detailing his life experiences, family, and health, supported by a heavily publicized "entanglement" with actress Jada Pinkett Smith.


title: August Alsina

text: Alsina was born on September 3, 1992 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He attended middle school in New Orleans. Although no one in his family was musically inclined, he was inspired to sing by Lauryn Hill in "". Alsina first uploaded videos to YouTube in 2007 at age 14, starting with a cover of "Hypothetically" by Lyfe Jennings.


title: August Alsina

text: With both his father and stepfather battling crack cocaine addiction, Alsina's mother moved him to Houston, Texas in search of a fresh start after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Then, Alsina's father died. Alsina had disagreements with his mother at some point and was "kicked out." After his older brother, Melvin La'Branch III, was shot and killed on August 31, 2010, he became more committed to his music, and relocated to Atlanta in 2011.


title: August Alsina

text: His first mixtape "The Product" was released in April 2012, though an "Untitled" mixtape with six acoustic covers premiered in October 2011. His single "I Luv This Shit" featuring Trinidad James was released in January 2013, and his mixtape "The Product 2" followed in May 2013.


title: August Alsina

text: The EP "" was released on August 20, 2013, with a video for "Hell on Earth" released the following month. On December 9, 2013, the third single from his EP "Downtown: Life Under the Gun", "Ghetto" featuring Rich Homie Quan, was serviced to urban contemporary radio and it was the most added song on urban radio the week ending December 12, 2013. On January 14, 2014, Alsina released "Make It Home" featuring Jeezy, as the lead single from his debut studio album. Along with the release, it was revealed that the album would be titled "Testimony", which was released on April 15, 2014. He was named part of the 2014 "XXL" freshmen class.


title: August Alsina

text: On December 11, 2015, Alsina released his second studio album, "This Thing Called Life". It debuted at number 14 on the "Billboard" 200, with first-week sales of 41,000 copies in the United States. The album was supported by five singles; "Hip Hop", "Why I Do It" (featuring Lil Wayne), "Song Cry", "Been Around the World" (featuring Chris Brown) and "Dreamer".


title: August Alsina

text: Alsina had been working on his third studio album since 2017. On January 6, 2017, Alsina released the singles "Drugs". Then on June 1, 2017, "Lonely", and on June 6, 2017, "Don't Matter" was released for the album. The album, "" was eventually released on June 26, 2020. The singer announced that the album highlights "the struggle in my life, my upbringing as a crack baby, losing my father and sister, and becoming the guardian for my three nieces", as well as his battle with the auto-immune disease that affected him.


title: August Alsina

text: Alsina's music generally falls into the R&B category, often fusing it with hip-hop. His musical influences are Chris Brown, Usher and Lyfe Jennings.


title: August Alsina

text: In 2017, the singer revealed that he suffers from a severe autoimmune disease that attacks his liver. This illness has led to multiple incidents including a collapse on stage in 2014.


title: August Alsina

text: On July 8, 2019, Alsina updated his health scare. In a video he posted to Instagram, the singer explained that he was hospitalized after suffering a loss of mobility. "We're doing a bunch of tests and they're saying I have some nerve damage going on throughout my body".


title: August Alsina

text: On June 30, 2020, Alsina claimed he was granted permission from Will Smith to be in a romantic relationship with his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. The following day, a representative for Pinkett Smith released a statement concerning the claims, referring to them as "absolutely not true." However, on July 10, in an episode of her talk show "Red Table Talk", alongside Will Smith, Jada revealed that she did have a romantic relationship with Alsina four and a half years prior, when she and Will were separated. She stated she "got into a different kind of entanglement with August." Jada and Will denied that Will gave Alsina permission for the relationship, with Jada saying Alsina "would perceive it as permission because we [her and Will] were separated amicably". Pinkett Smith further claimed she wanted to "heal" Alsina, but needed to find healing for herself first. She and Will eventually reconciled after she broke things off with Alsina; she says she has not spoken with Alsina since.


title: August Alsina

text: After Jada's use of the word "entanglement" went viral on the Internet, Alsina released a collaboration titled "Entanglements" with rapper Rick Ross on July 19, 2020, in which Alsina sings "You left your man just to fuck with me and break his heart".


title: Canadian Tire

text: Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is a Canadian retail company which operates in the automotive, hardware, sports, leisure and housewares sectors. Its Canadian operations include: Canadian Tire (including Canadian Tire Petroleum gas stations and financial services subsidiary Canadian Tire Bank), Mark's, FGL Sports (including Sport Chek and Sports Experts), PartSource, and the Canadian operations of Party City. Canadian Tire acquired the Norwegian clothing and textile company Helly Hansen from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in 2018.


title: Canadian Tire

text: Canadian Tire is known for its Canadian Tire money, a loyalty program first introduced in 1958 using paper coupons that resemble banknotes. The company's head office is located at the Canada Square Complex in Toronto, Ontario and it is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It is a participant in the voluntary Scanner Price Accuracy Code managed by the Retail Council of Canada.


title: Canadian Tire

text: On September 15, 1922, John William Billes and Alfred Jackson Billes invested their combined savings of $1,800 in the Hamilton Tire and Garage Ltd. (established in 1909 as the Hamilton Garage and Rubber Company) in Toronto. Hamilton Tire and Garage specialized in buying tires at a discount from manufacturers in the winter then reselling the tires during the busy summer season. The brothers opened a retail store at Yonge and Gould streets in Toronto, Ontario.


title: Canadian Tire

text: A product focus on tires was emphasized in 1927 with incorporation of the name Canadian Tire Corporation Limited because, as A.J. Billes said, "...it sounded big". During 1928, the first Canadian Tire catalogues were distributed, consisting of price lists along with road maps.


title: Canadian Tire

text: In 1934, the first official Associate Store was opened in Hamilton, Ontario, by Walker Anderson on King Street. In 1944, to fund its growth, Canadian Tire Corporation became a public company and sold 100,000 shares. By 1945, there were 110 Canadian Tire stores. In 1946, an employee stock purchasing plan was implemented to encourage employee loyalty while discouraging unionization.


title: Canadian Tire

text: The first gas bar opened in 1958 at the corner of Yonge and Church streets in Toronto. Canadian Tire money that gave gas bar customers an in-store discount began in 1958. By June 1961, there were 31 locations. The small financial services company Midland Shoppers Credit Limited was purchased in 1968 and renamed Canadian Tire Acceptance, Limited.


title: Canadian Tire

text: In 2003, CTC established the Canadian Tire Bank, under Canada's Bank Act, from its then-named Canadian Tire Financial Services, Limited, subsidiary along with its Mastercard portfolio, which was later renamed as Canadian Tire Services, Limited, effective January 1, 2015. CTC sold 20% of its Canadian Tire Bank to Scotiabank in 2014.


title: Canadian Tire

text: In April 2018, Triangle Rewards was launched as a replacement to the digital My Canadian Tire Money program and Options Mastercard. Traditional paper Canadian Tire money continues to be offered at some Canadian Tire stores for customers without a rewards card, though at a reduced rate.


title: Canadian Tire

text: In May 2018, the company extended further into the clothing market by acquiring Helly Hansen. As of December 2021, the company operates 667 Canadian Tire stores, 397 SportChek stores, and 381 Mark's stores. The current President and CEO is Greg Hicks.


title: Canadian Tire

text: Canadian Tire tried twice to expand into the United States. In 1982, it purchased the Wichita Falls, Texas-based White Stores, Inc. automotive retail chain with 81 stores in Texas from its then owner Household Merchandising Inc., a subsidiary of Household Finance, for US$40.2 million. In 1986, after losing nearly US$100 million they closed some stores and sold the remaining 40 stores, three warehouses and other White assets to Kansas City, Missouri-based Western Auto Supply.


title: Canadian Tire

text: The second time, during the early 1990s, Canadian Tire decided to try to open a specialized auto parts chain called Auto Source that tried to have more than 25,000 different parts on the shelf in each store, more than its competitors. The first Auto Source was opened in Indianapolis in 1991. Unlike the previous attempt, the Auto Source concept was built from scratch. During the next three years, Canadian Tire had opened two Auto Source stores each in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Louisville for a total of ten stores before abruptly closing the money-losing chain in 1995. Some of the stores, were sold to Pep Boys.


title: Canadian Tire

text: Although the Auto Source lost nearly CA$60 million during its four years of existence, a scaled down version was used in Canada under the PartSource brand.


title: Canadian Tire

text: Certain merchandise items are branded specifically for Canadian Tire. The most recognized of these are Mastercraft, which offers a wide range of tools, SuperCycle (bicycles), BluePlanet (eco-friendly household cleaners, CFL bulbs and other green items), Likewise (general household items such as lighting/electrical products and hardware) and Motomaster (tires, batteries and other automotive goods). FRANK branded products are an economy priced line of mainly food and drink as well as household cleaning products, and feature a short humorous tagline on the package. NOMA, a company that exists in Canada as a trademark only, offering a wide range of items from Christmas lights to air purifiers. During the 1980s, Canadian Tire sold electronic items under the name Pulser (with Canadian Tire logo), such as radios, stereos, televisions, walkmans, cassette tapes, etc. It is unknown when the company began or went defunct.


title: Canadian Tire

text: On May 10, 2017, Canadian Tire announced it would be buying Padinox, the manufacturer of the Paderno brand of kitchen equipment.


title: Canadian Tire

text: Other house brands include: Master Chef for BBQ and outdoor cooking products, Canvas for furniture, Yardworks for lawn care equipment, MAXIMUM for their premium tool line, Woods for camping and outdoor wear gear, Simoniz for car cleaning and care products, Premier paint products. Jobmate for budget priced power tools. Certified for some automotive hardware and some gas powered equipment such as electricity generators and snowblowers.


title: Canadian Tire

text: At the end of 2018, Canadian Tire employed 12,735 full-time and 17,951 part-time employee in the corporate structure. These figures do not include temporary employees or employees working for Associate Stores, petroleum stores or franchise stores. There is an in-house Triangle Learning Academy, a pun on the CTC logo, for employee and Associate Store management training.


title: Canadian Tire

text: Canadian Tire Bank (CTB) is the retail deposit-taking and credit card issuing arm of the company. Held indirectly under the "Canadian Tire Services, Limited", holding company, Canadian Tire Bank (CTB), a bank under Canada's "Bank Act" since 2003. Prior to 2003, all financing occurred under the "Canadian Tire Financial Services". In 2014, The Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a 20% economic and voting interest in Canadian Tire Bank, with an option to acquire up to an additional 30% of the company within 10 years (or require Canadian Tire buy back its existing 20% interest) at the then fair market value of business for $500 million CAD in cash.


title: Canadian Tire

text: Ostensibly in tandem with Scotiabank's acquisition of a minority position in Canadian Tire Bank, Canadian Tire renamed its intermediary holding company "Canadian Tire Financial Services Limited" as Canadian Tire Services, Limited, effective January 1, 2015, dropping the moniker "Canadian Tire Financial Services" from use. Additionally, in approximately 2018, Canadian Tire rebranded its credit card-issuing online banking website as "Canadian Tire Bank", removing the last vestage of "Canadian Tire Financial Services" from active use.


title: Canadian Tire

text: Canadian Tire Petroleum (CTP), operating as Canadian Tire Gas+, is the division of Canadian Tire which operates gas stations and car washes. CTP was founded in 1958 as a means of increasing customer traffic to Canadian Tire stores. In Ontario, CTP also operates Pit Stop, which provides services like oil changes and rust checks. The Canadian Tire money loyalty program was originally launched through the gas bars as "Gas Bonus Coupons". CTP has opened three Q Stop stores featuring a mini-grocery store as well as other items.


title: Canadian Tire

text: CTP also holds the concession to operate the 24-hour gas stations at ONroute service centres in Ontario along Highway 401 and parts of Highway 400.


title: Canadian Tire

text: Moody's observed the chain's unique position in Canadian retail as being "often both misunderstood and underestimated" and "completely foreign" in comparison to U.S. retail, citing its variety of products (ranging from auto parts, to sporting goods, to outdoors products, and grocery at some locations), and that "its proprietary 'currency,' Canadian Tire money, which is a by-product of its loyalty program, has been accepted across Canada by multiple retailers and could almost be described as a 'sub-fiat' currency."


title: Canadian Tire

text: In 2009, the chain introduced a new store concept it dubbed the "Smart store"; they feature "boutiques" that prominently showcase products within the chain's core product categories. Popular product categories such as auto parts and home goods were moved towards the front of the store to improve their prominence, and some locations began to sell common groceries as a pilot project.


title: Canadian Tire

text: In June 2015, the chain opened its largest location to-date at South Edmonton Common, which features two floors, widened and expanded departments, various interactive experiences (including a driving simulator and virtual reality), as well as a rotating exhibit of Hockey Canada memorabilia. This remained the largest location until the 100th anniversary opening of the Carlingwood Mall, Ottawa location in September 2022.


title: Canadian Tire

text: With the demise of Target's businesses in Canada in 2015, Canadian Tire took over the lease of 12 of the former Target store locations.


title: Canadian Tire

text: In November 2000, Canadian Tire introduced an online retail operation. On January 1, 2009, citing consumer disinterest in online shopping in comparison to its physical stores, the Company discontinued online sales.On November 1, 2013, Canadian Tire returned to online shopping with delivery to stores.


title: Canadian Tire

text: In addition to the Canadian Tire stores' Parts department CTC owns PartSource, an automotive parts and accessories specialty chain which has 91 stores across Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. It serves commercial automotive installers and do-it-yourself mechanics. Before November 2013, some stores were owned and operated by franchisees; all currently belong to Canadian Tire.


title: Canadian Tire

text: In 2001, Canadian Tire acquired Mark's Work Warehouse (now branded as Mark's), a retailer of business casual and work wear, for $116 million. Along with standalone stores, some Canadian Tire locations feature integrated Mark's locations. However, some smaller Canadian Tire locations removed their Mark's department when remodelled into the "Smart store" format due to space constraints.


title: Canadian Tire

text: In May 2018, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan sold the Norwegian sportswear retailer Helly Hansen to Canadian Tire for $985 million CAD.


title: Canadian Tire

text: In May 2011, Canadian Tire announced the purchase of Forzani Group, a Canadian sporting goods retailer that operates various brands, including SportChek, Atmosphere, Intersport, Hockey Experts, National Sports, Nevada Bob's Golf, S3, Sport Mart, Sports Experts, Tech Shop, Pro Hockey Life, and The Fitness Source. In February 2021, Canadian Tire announced the closure of all National Sports stores, citing a focus on efficiencies and core assets.


title: Canadian Tire

text: In October 2019, Canadian Tire closed its acquisition of Party City's Canadian business. As part of the deal, CTC signed a 10-year supply agreement with Party City's parent company Amscan.


title: Canadian Tire

text: Historically, Canadian Tire's Christmas ads featured Santa Claus and Ebenezer Scrooge arguing about whether Canadian Tire's selection or their sales prices were the reason to do Christmas shopping there, involving the marketing slogan ""Give like Santa, save like Scrooge"".


title: Canadian Tire

text: A stamp was issued by Canada Post commemorating Canadian Tire's 75th anniversary based on the Canadian Tire advertisement of a boy (Bike Story) receiving his first bicycle, which was purchased by his father at a Canadian Tire retail store.


title: Canadian Tire

text: Starting in 2007, the company ran month-long advent calendar promotions which provided free CDs and discounts throughout the holiday season.


title: Canadian Tire

text: From 1997 to 2005, the company's ads featured the "Canadian Tire couple". The male role also known as the Canadian Tire guy was played by Canadian actor Ted Simonett, and Gloria Slade played the female role. They are usually showcasing a new product to one of their neighbours, who are in need of a certain tool. The "Canadian Tire Couple" were featured on "Royal Canadian Air Farce" as one of their targets of the year, as "Canada's most annoying couple". They also made a feature guest appearance on "Royal Canadian Air Farce" as actors in a skit.


title: Canadian Tire

text: In early 2006, ads featuring the couple were phased out and replaced by a new campaign featuring overhead signs found in Canadian Tire's store aisles.


title: Canadian Tire

text: In 2013, Canadian Tire produced a commercial promoting its MasterCraft Eliminator Ultra car battery and its ability to function in extreme cold, which featured a stripped GMC Sierra pickup truck with its body re-created as an ice sculpture. The ad premiered during the 2014 NHL Winter Classic.


title: Canadian Tire

text: In March 2015, Canadian Tire launched a new ongoing marketing campaign, "Tested for Life in Canada". The campaign, which includes television advertising and in-store labels, showcases products that have been vetted based on input by a consumer focus group recruited by the chain, as well as their reviews of the products. The program also collects feedback that is used to help improve products marketed by Canadian Tire.


title: Canadian Tire

text: During the 1980s, the company sponsored an IndyCar racing team. Alfred J. Billes's son David Billes was a Canadian Corvette racer before opening Performance Engineering Ltd. He was later Jacques Villeneuve Sr.'s car owner in CART IndyCar competition in the early 1980s and entered two cars in the 1985 Indianapolis 500. In 1985, Jacques Villeneuve Sr. won the race at Road America.


title: Canadian Tire

text: The company has had naming rights at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, formerly known as Mosport International Raceway, since 2012.


title: Canadian Tire

text: The home arena of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL) has been known as the Canadian Tire Centre since 2013.